Winter East Coast Championships
Winter East Coast Championships
20 SWAT swimmers represented the club at the 2026 Winter East Coast Championships in Halifax March 26-29. Clubs from across the 4 Atlantic provinces sent their best swimmers for a high speed competition for East Coast bragging rights. The club finished 8th overall with 864 points. It was another great club event following the success of NS Winter Champs. WAT swimmers collected 86 best times and appeared in 52 scoring swims and winning 13 medals.
Two members of the Junior Atlantic group got their feet wet at the East Coast level. Both swimmers were racing in their third championship meet of March after NS Champs at the beginning of March and then joining Team Nova Scotia to Maine for the MESI Winter Championships before March Break. Jae picked up 2 best times and scored points in two events earning 17 for the club. His highlight result was a 4 second improvement in the 50 Fly. Wyatt made 3 new personal records also highlighted by a 50 Fly result after a 7 second drop.
Senior Provincial sent 10 swimmers to the meet. Addison was a perfect 6-for-6 on best times including several big drops like 49 seconds off in the 800 Free. She also reached under 2:30 in the 200 Free for the first time LCM. She scored 19 points for the club. Sam H made his ECC debut after qualifying at NS Winter Champs with another perfect 6-for-6 best times. Swimming some lesser favourites his weekend was highlighted by a 20 second improvement in the 400 Free. Gavin stepped into 5 best times and 2 scoring swims in the deep 15 and over category scoring 6 points. He cut 3 second off in the 50 Back. Sam S had a strong weekend also making his ECC debut with 5 best times and 4 points in the 800 Free. He breached 2:30 in the LCM 200 Free and took off 36 seconds in the 800 Free. Ryan was 6-for-6 and reached finals in all 6 events, scoring 61 points from 5 of those events. He made a massive leap in the 100 Back with 10 total seconds of improvement. Tatum made her ECC and Long Course debut after qualifying at NS Winter Champs. As her first meet in a Long Course pool her 3 events set new targets in each. 4 Senior Provincial swimmers also joined Team NS to Maine and ran with a manageable work load for East Coast Champs. Charlotte took 4 uncommon events into new territory with 4 best times. She scored 11 points in the 400 IM and took off 34 seconds in her ECC Debut. Nick had 5 best times including his relay lead-off swims. He scored 53 points from 4 events including a 5 second improvement in the 100 Back. Marco, recently turned 15 in Maine, also had 5 best times long course. His ECC Debut was highlighted by a 5 seconds pb in the 200 IM. Erica also earned 5 best times from 4 events and Relay lead-offs. She was in scoring heats of each of her three individual events and scored 67 points including 50 from a Gold medal in the 200 Fly in her ECC debut.
Senior National and Senior Atlantic posted strong results. Gabriel A had 4 best times and 5 finals swims, winning 107 points and 2 medals including a Gold in the 200 Back. He bettered his old 200 Free time by 12 seconds. Dylan found himself 4 best times and 5 scoring swims as a Para representative for SWAT. He scored 115 points and won 3 medals. Julia had a short weekend with just 4 individual events at her third Champs meet of the month. She had 2 pbs and scored points in all 4 of her swims with 19 total points. Bestie Cohen was a perfect 6-for-6 and scored 4 points. She had a 3 second best time in the 200 Back. Ethan K was perfect 6-for-6 in best times and scoring swims. He walked away with 5 medals including a Gold in the 100 Back, and 183 points. Eugene just missed a perfect weekend with 5 best times and 6 scoring swims. He earned 1 medal and 65 points on the weekend. Maria was battling some injuries that limited her afternoon appearances but still earned 1 best time and 3 scoring swims and 48 points. She came up with a big 5 second best times at Finals in the 200 IM sneaking in a cheeky Bronze medal. Alana found herself 3 best times and 1 point for the cause in the 400 Free.
Relays also played a roll in the team scores. Thursday night the 800 Free Relay team of Ethan, Gabriel, Eugene, and Ryan scored 13 points. Friday night three 400 Free Relay teams scored. The teams of: Erica, Charlotte, Cohen, and Julia; and Nick, Wyatt, Jae, and Ryan scored 13 points each. While Marco, Sam H, Gavin, and Sam S added another 3 points. Saturday night hosted the 400 Medley Relay. In medley relay order: Cohen, Addison, Erica R, and Julia scored 13 points. Nick, Wyatt, Jae, and Ryan scored 13 points. And Ethan, Gabe A, Gavin, and Eugene scored 12 points.
Things slow down a little bit for AA and AAA swimmers, but not for the club. Ethan Kershaw and Gabriel Anderson make the journey to Canadian Open in Edmonton April 9-11. Also racing that weekend are the Nova Tech crowd on Saturday, April 11 at Centennial. Age Group swimmers return to the lanes to race April 25 and 26 at Centennial for a combined AA/AAA Long Course meet.
SWAT Club Cup series returns to the Sackville Sports Stadium Saturday, April 18!!