Alec Wraps up in Baltimore

Alec Page, representing CRKW and SWIM BC in Baltimore, Maryland this weekend had himself quite the weekend. Flying down on Thursday and returning tomorrow, Alec swam nine events as part of TEAM BC at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club LC Championships and made a bit of a name for himself south of the border. With 3 gold and 4 silver medals in nine events, including 3 new club records, Alec lived up to expectations and was an intrical part of SWIM BC's success at the meet. Listed below are Alec's results by event.

• 50 Freestyle 30.29 5th Personal Best Time
• 100 Freestyle 1:03.06 Silver New Club Record
• 200 Freestyle 2:16.12 Silver Personal Best Time
• 1500 Freestyle 18:52.23 Gold New Club Record / National Qualifying Time
• 200 Backstroke 2:51.39 9th
• 50 Butterfly 31.97 Silver New Club Record
• 100 Butterfly 1:11.63 Gold
• 200 Butterfly 2:40.91 Gold Personal Best Time
• 200 IM 2:38.63 Silver Personal Best Time

Congratulations to Alec and the rest of his SWIM BC teammates for a job well done over the weekend in Baltimore.

Day 3 Finals

Day three was another successful day at VIR champs for CRKW swimmers. Congratulations to David John Palmer for making his first ever AAA cut in the boys 100 freestyle with a time of 1:10.76. Great job Dave!!!

More club records were the norm on the final day of competition. The 10 and under girls team of Karlyn Healy, Marissa Boyle, Jocelyn Cormier and Kiersten Padington broke their second relay record of the weekend, this time in the medley relay, posting a fast time of 2:49.59, almost two seconds under the time from last seasons team. Well done.

The 10 and unders weren't done though with many club records and medals were garnered. Jocelyn Cormier and Karlyn Healy went silver / bronze in the girls 200 freestyle with Cormier breaking her own club record. Finn Page also recorded a silver medal in the boys event. Hayden Arbour recorded a bronze medal performance in the 10 and under boys 50 backstroke while in the 50 freestyle, Page equalled his last swim with a silver while Jocelyn Cormier and Marissa Boyle went 1-3 in the girls 50 free, Cormier breaking another club record in the process. Page continued on in the 50 fly with a silver while Cormier continued her torrid pace with a gold in the 50 fly as well. Tyler Cowan rounded out the medal haul by our 10 and unders with a bronze in the 100 breaststroke.

The 11 and overs, swimming in that evenings finals were equally impressive. Kirsten Rowbotham knocked 9 seconds from her personal best time in the 400 freestyle to finish 5th with a 4:52.8 while finishing the night with a 3rd place finish and a new club record in the 100 freestyle, posting an impressive time of 1:03.6.

400 Free was the first event of the night and Morgan Healy, Jared Calder and Carter Gorjeu all posted top 8 results in the event with very fast times. 200 Backstroke saw Rowbotham, Andrea Gilbert, Carter Gorjeu and David John Palmer all in the finals while the 200 fly featured Morgan Healy, Marisa Gorjeu and Jared Calder all swimming in the final group. Other than Rowbotham, 100 freestyle featured Andrea Gilbert, Carter Gorjeu and Jared Calder all swimming in the finals.

Overall, the Killer Whales matched their best ever results at the meet, placing 3rd overall out of 13 teams and amassed over 2000 points for the second time ever. 13 club records were beaten and 38 medals were recorded, including 31 individual, 9 being gold.

VIR Champs

The first two days of the VIR Champs meet in Victoria has seen some excellent racing and some excellent results. Day 1 medal perfomances included the 12 and under boys 200 Medley Relay (Bronze), The 13 - 14 girls relay (bronze), Kirsten Rowbotham in the 100 breast (silver), Morgan Healy in the 12 and Under girls 1500 Freestyle (bronze), Marisa Gorjeu in the 13 - 14 girls 1500 freestyle (silver) and a clean sweep by the 15 and over girls 1500 freestyle with Carly Papagiannis (gold), Alisha Clark (silver) and Andrea Bernard (bronze) sweeping the medals. Day 1 only saw one 10 and under event but they were dominant all the same. Jocelyn Cormier and Karlyn Healy were 2-3 in the 400 freestyle, Cormier breaking the club record in the process. Finn Page was bronze in the boys 400 freestyle event.

Day 2 was even better. All the 10 and under events were in the morning and they were dominant as ever. Jocelyn Cormier started with a gold medal performance in the girls 100 freestyle with Hayden Arbour winning the bronze in the boys event. Cormier and Arbour also teamed up in the 100 backstroke with Jocelyn Cormier and him winning silver and bronze respectively in their own events. Cormier also won the 100 butterfly as did Finn Page in the boys event - CRKW sweeping both gold medals! Cormier wasn't done, swimming a powerful and impressive 200 IM, crushing the club record while Finn Page placed second in the boys event. To top it all off, the girls team of Cormier, Healy, Marissa Boyle and Kiersten Padington stole the show in the 10 and under girls 200 freestyle relay posting a time of 2:23.8, just shy of the fastest ever time done on Vancouver Island!!! Great job on your swims today.

With the 10 and unders done early in the session, it was then time for the 11 and overs to show their stuff in finals. The boys 15 and over relay posted a bronze medal performance in the freestyle relay to start off the show. Then it was even better from there. Deke Botsford swam an excellent even split 100 backstroke in 1:00.8 to place second. Kirsten Rowbotham swam to a bronze medal in the 200 breaststroke shortly after in a best time. There were no more medals to be won on day two but the swims were really excellent - time and time again swimmers raced well tired to come up with excellent results.

On a side note - Alec Page, who is representing British Columbia at the North Baltimore Invitational in Maryland was victorious in the boys 11 and 12 100 fly, winning the event in 1:11.6. He also swam the 200 freestlye, placing second in a best time of 2:16.12. He continues his meet tomorrow and Monday, returning to Campbell River on Tuesday. Good Luck on the rest of your swims Alec.

VIR Champs

Day 3

Day three is now finished at the Zajac meet for CRKW swimmers and the end result was mixed but overall fairly good. Kirsten started the day with a 37.6 50 breast, good enough for a best time and a club record but still a stretch from her 35's she's been splitting on the relays of late. Her 100 free was better than Seattle but a little off her best, finishing in 1:05.1.

Andrea had a rough 100 free for her first swim of the day, swimming a 1:04.4 while her 100 back was much better, splitting 35.6 / 37.0 for a 1:12.6, about a second slower than her 100 in Seattle a couple weeks back.

Day 2 Complete

Day 2 saw some better swims, including four swims out of four where Kirsten and Andrea improved their rankings from rankings to prelmis. Andrea swam a 28.7 50 freestyle, which was a little slower than expected but was technically pretty good, including a better start than in her 200 yesterday. Kirsten swam an outstanding tactical race in the 200 breaststroke, going out 1:27.0 and coming back 1:26.3 for a final time of 2:53.3, her best time this season long course. She then swam the 200 IM, setting herself up for an amazing result in the first 100 meters, only to stumble slightly in the breaststroke / freestyle, settling for a 2:39.9, her second best time this season.

Tomorrow will see the girls each swim two events, including both girls facing off in the 100 freestyle for club bragging rights. Andrea will add the 100 back while Kirsten will swim the 50 breast.

Day 2 - Mel Zajac International

Andrea started us off today with a very strong 50 backstroke, swimming the event in 33.37, only one tenth off of her very best time from last year's Nationals in Winnipeg. She will also swim second today, in the 50 freestyle while Kirsten will wait until later to swim the 200 breast followed by the 200 IM.

Day 1 Results

Day 1 was a decent start for both swimmers. Kirsten was a little better than she was in Seattle a couple weeks back in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:20.1 while Andrea was about the same in the 2oo freestyle as she was a couple weeks back with a 2:19.6. Competition resumes tomorrow with Andrea swimming the 5o free and 50 back while Kirsten swims the 200 IM and 200 Free.

Day 1 Results

Day 1 of Bell Mel Zajac International

Day 1 will see a light slate of events with Kirsten swimming 100 Breast first and Andrea finishing the morning with 200 Freestyle. Both girls are hoping to get the meet started with a good performance, setting them up for the rest of the meet.