Day 2 Christmas Cracker

Day two saw more excellent swims from a full range of Killer Whales at the 5th annual Christmas Cracker here in Victoria. The first event in tonight final was the 200 free relay with the 11-12 girls team of Taylor, Marissa, Karlyn and Jocelyn swimming a strong 2:12 for 9th place overall. The 13-14 girls of Aven, Marisa, Kirsten and Deirdre broke a club record with a 1:57.2, good enough for a 4th place finish. The 11-12 boys placed 5th with a 2:24 with a team of David John, Finn, Tyler and Dustin.

The 400 IM's were next. Kirsten started us off with an 8th place finish in a best time of 5:24.0, also a club record. David John followed with a 5th place finish in the 11-12 boys while Alec Page posted an excellent swim of 5:10, good enough for 4th place in the 13-14 boys.

In the 100 breaststroke, Kirsten and Morgan were both in the 13-14 girls final with Kirsten placing 4th and Morgan placing 6th. Morgans time of 1:19.88 was her first Age Group National time for 13 year old girls, qualifying her to swim in Montreal this summer at the Age Group National Championships. Alec rounded out the 100 breast finals with a 6th place finish.

In the 100 freestyle, Taylor swam a strong 1:07.0 for 5th while David John had a time of 1:06.5 which placed him 5th in the boys final.

In the final event of the night, the 200 fly, Taylor started us off again with an excellent swim of 2:55.9, placing her 4th in the final. Marisa followed her with another outstanding swim of 2:32.0, placing 3rd in the 13-14 girls final. David John finished us off tonight with a best time of 3:07 in the boys final.

In earlier action from the heats, Aven broke the club record in the girls 200 backstroke for 13-14 girls. in the 400 IM's, Taylor, Jocelyn, Karlyn, Tylor and Aven were all best times while in the 100 breaststroke, Jocelyn, Brittnie, Marissa, Kiersten and Kurrah all had best times as did Dustin, Tyler, Finn and Tylor. In the 200 Backstroke, Karlyn, Jocelyn, Brittnie, Marisa, Valentina, Kiersten and Aven were all best times. In the 100 Freestyle, Marissa, Valentina, Kurrah, Marisa, Finn and Dustin all had best times.

Action resumes tomorrow.

Day 1 - Christmas Cracker Invitational

The 5th annual Christmas Cracker got started today in Victoria with 23 Killer Whales in attendance at the meet. Events swum today were 50 fly, 200 free, 50 back, 200 IM and 50 breast, along with the 800 free and 200 Medley Relays.

Starting the day with the 50 fly, there were some excellent times and swims from our swimmers. Aven Preston and Alec Page both cracked the top 8 in the 13-14 age group with Preston placing 8th and Page placing 7th respectfully. Great swims in the event were put in by Karlyn Healy (38.6), Valentina Carvallo (46.0) and Nicole Dawson (40.5). The next event, the 200 Free, saw two swimmers make it through to tonights finals. Taylor Padington (2:24.8) and Kirsten Rowbotham (2:15.9) in the 11-12 girls and 13-14 girls respectfully, qualified 5th and 6th. In tonights finals, Padington swam an inspired race, out in 1:08.9 and finishing in second place with a time of 2:21.7, breaking Marisa Gorjeu's club record from last year by over three seconds. Rowbotham also swam a best time in tonights event, placing 8th with a time of 2:15.8. Morgan Healy had a strong morning swim in 2:25.1, while Deirdre Huestis improved her time by three seconds with a time of 2:34. Alec Page ended up 9th with a time of 2:12.3 while Finn Page improved his time by 4 seconds and Dustin Love did a best time by over 8 seconds. Tylor Love added to the best times with a 5 seconds improvement in the event.

50 Backstroke was next up with Aven Preston placing 4th in a time of 32.4, a new club record. Marisa Gorjeu and Kirsten Rowbotham were both best times in 34 seconds plus. Jocelyn Cormier had a best time in 40.5 while Alisha Clark was better than her best in 37.2.

In the 200 IM, Marisa Boyle, Karlyn Healy and Brittnie Hill all had huge improvements in the event, Hill improving her time by 15 seconds and Boyle improving by 11. Kiersten Padington chipped in with a 3:30, an 8 second improvement. Nicole Dawson dropped 4 seconds from her best time in the event while on the boys side, Alec Page qualified in 7th for tonights finals with a 2:30.8 while Tylor Love was under 2:50 for the first time with a 2:49 while Finn Page and Tyler Cowan took 16 and 8 seconds respectfully from their best times.

The final individual event of the day was the 50 breaststroke. Kirsten Rowbotham picked up a second place finish in the 13-14 girls event while Aven Preston was 7th. Morgan Healy, Kiersten Padington and Jocelyn Cormier had best times in the event.

In tonights relays, we had some excellent results. In the 11-12 girls, the A team of Karlyn, Brittnie, Jocelyn and Taylor were very strong in 2:32 while the B team swam a time of 3:09, consisting of Kurrah Hill, Kiersten Padington, Marissa Boyle and Valentina Carvallo. The 15 and Over girls team of Alisha Clark (36.3 lead off), Carly Papagiannis, Andrea Bernard and Nicole Dawson were also very good with a time of 2:26.0. The toast of the night was the 13-14 girls team of Aven Preston (32.0 Backstroke), Morgan Healy (36.9 Breaststroke), Marisa Gorjeu (31.1 Fly) and Kirsten Rowbotham (28.1 Free) who placed 2nd out of lane 8 in a club record smashing time of 2:08.0, 7 seconds better than the previous club record set last season.

Competition resumes tomorrow.