CRKW Swim Club

Senior Circuit #1 - Friday

2007-10-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

The first real racing of the season took place for our senior swimmers in Victoria tonight. Results were strong considering the time of the season and the fact the meet is LC early on. The goal is race strong this weekend in preparation for our two most important meets before Christmas. Live results can be found at http://www.pacificcoastswimming.com/LiveResults/2007-08/Senior1/

Highlights of the session were Kirsten Rowbotham's personal best time in the 200 IM (2:36.1) and a strong swim in the 100 breast. Alec Page swam well and was within striking distance of his best times in the 200 breast and 100 fly. Marisa Gorjeu had strong 200 free and 800 free's and a pretty good 200 fly to start the meet. Also participating in the meet were Aven Preston, Morgan Healy and Adriaan Kruger.

Competition continues tomorrow.

Final Standings - Age Nationals 2007 - Montreal

2007-07-23T05:45:00.000-07:00

The final standings are in and yes, we are on the first page!!! 43rd overall was the the final result, which is impressive in itself. However, when you look a little closer, you will see that we did much better than that. Far be it from be to make excuses for not living in a large center, because I don't believe in that, but we were the third best team at the meet for teams that don't live in a major center (ie: Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon). Only Vernon (pop 40,000) and Whitehorse (30,000) beat us in the team standings. However, a closer look reveals that all of Vernons points came from one swimmer (380 points - 26th) and all of Whitehorse's points (340 points - 33rd) came from 2 swimmers. We had three swimmers in finals at the meet, plus a scoring relay which neither of the two other teams could say.

Every one of the 6 swimmers that we brought to the meet contributed to the success of the team. Alec Page scored 167 points on his own for the boys (which turned out to be 4.5 points more than the whole Island Swimming team could manage for the boys) while the girls came up with 65 points on their own, 9 from the girls relay, 9 from Marisa's 200 fly and 47 from Kirsten's 4 individual finals in the 50 free, 50 breast, 100 breast and 200 breast.

Day 4 Finals - Age Nationals 2007 - Montreal

2007-07-22T17:50:00.001-07:00

The meet finished with more strong swimming from CRKW. In the 13 and under boys 400 IM final, Alec slashed another 4.5 seconds from his best time and club record to finish with his 5th medal of the meet, a bronze. His time of 5:00.9 was almost 10 seconds under his best time from the last meet and 7 seconds under the previous club record.

In our other final of the meet, Kirsten was a little off her morning swim and finished in 7th place in the the 15 year old girls 200 breast final. She was strong out on the 1st 50 and picked up the pace on the third before faltering somewhat on the way home.

Team scores are not available at this time, although we think that we held our place tonight with those two swims and Alec's silver medal in the 800 freestyle. Complete team scores will be reported when available.

On a final note, I'd like to thank all our supporters for their kind emails and notes throughout the meet. It's been inspirational to see how many people are following our results and we just wanted to say thanks.

Parents, we expect to be on the 3:15 ferry from tsawassen to duke point tomorrow, possibly getting us home for 7:00 pm. We will meet at my house. I will have the swimmers call tomorrow when we get on the ferry.

CRKW SWIMMING RULES!!!!!

Day 4 Preliminaries - Age Nationals 2007 - Montreal

2007-07-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

Day four saw more sunny weather and fast swimming from CRKW swimmers. 400 IM was the first events and Alec was our only entry. His time of 5:05.3 was 5 seconds under his best time and placed him 3rd in this mornings preliminaries heading into finals tonight. He will swim in lane 3. His time was also a new club record in the event by over a second. In the 50 fly, Aven was our only swimmer and her time of 31.4 was also a club record and a best time, although she will not be moving onto finals in the event. In the 100 free, Kirsten was our only swim and her time of 1:02.2 was slower than she wanted to go but a second under her best time and a strong swim with her 200 breast coming right up after it. In that 200 breast, she swam the first half of the race perfectly before falling off the race plan somewhat on the 3rd 50. Her time of 2:47.2 was only a half second over her best time and will put her in lane 2 in tonights final in 5th place. Morgan had a very strong 2o0 breast, swimming a 2:59.6, a best time and her first time under 3:00 Long Course.

In the 800 freestyles, just completed and todays last preliminary event, Morgan and Taylor was both best times in 10:30.5 and 10:08.8 respectively in a heat that just finished about 3o minutes ago. Marisa was in a different heat and in a league of her own as her time of 9:43.1 was well under her best time and good enough to win her heat this morning by almost 25 meters. Alec was also in the 800 free and, although we don't know the final results yet, it is thought that he's picked up his 4th silver medal of the meet, just out-touched by a swimmer in his heat. His time of 9:08.6 wasn't his best time but a solid swim nonetheless.

Finals start tonight with Alec swimming at approx 2:50 pm PDT while Kirsten will swim approx 4:00 pm PDT. Last night the swimmers enjoyed a night out at the Hard Rock Cafe and even got to have some desert!

LATE BREAKING NEWS

2007-07-21T19:10:00.001-07:00

We just found out that the girls 14 and under relay placed 10th in tonights overall standings, scoring 9 points for our team. Our team currently sits with 171 points in 44th place overall. Our goal for tomorrow is to move up to 43rd as this puts us on the first page of team scores, not at the top of page 2!!!

The girls results and splits were as follows.

10.
CAMPBELL RIVER KILLER WHALES A
CRKW
4:47.66
Preston Aven 35.30 1:11.93
Healy Morgan 38.66 1:23.13
Gorjeu Marisa 32.22 1:09.83
Padington Taylor 29.56 1:02.77

Final time 4:47.66
Final Place 10th
Points Scored 9

Day 3 Finals - Age Nationals 2007 - Montreal

2007-07-21T16:27:00.001-07:00

Day three only saw two swims from CRKW make it through to the finals but both opportunities were taken full advantage of.

First up was Alec, 5th at the 50 in 29.7, he exploded in the middle 100, splitting 31.9 / 31.9 to take a half second lead at the 150. The swimmer in lane 7, who swam with Alec the whole race, passed him just at the end for a victory, but Alec's time of 2:05.4 was an outstanding swim, good enough for a best time, club record and the silver medal, his third of the meet.

Next up was Kirsten's 100 breast. With less than a second separating 2nd from 10th in this race, the key was to go out fast. Kirsten split 35.6, three tenths faster than her 50 from last night and faded slightly at the end, missing the bronze medal by only a tenth of a second, but moving into 4th place out of lane 0 was no small feat. Her time of 1:17.4 was her second best time ever in the event.

Tomorrow is the last day of competition, with 400 IM, 50 fly, 100 free and 200 breast on the agenda.

Day three Preliminaries - Age Nationals - Montreal

2007-07-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

Day three saw the sunshine come through and some good swimming for CRKW swimmers. In the 200 free, the first event of the day, Taylor was right on her best time in 2:20, good enough for 14th place overall. Alec was also close to his best time in 2:09.0 and will swim in lane 3 in third place in tonights final.

Next up was the 100 breast. Morgan had a best time of 1:24.5 in her event while Kirsten was off her best time in 1:18.3 but was fast enough to place 9th this morning and will swim in lane 0 in tonights final.

In the 200 back, Aven was 2 seconds under her best time and broke her own club record with a time of 2:34.2 and placed 20th.

In the 100 fly, Alec was off his best time and missed tonights final. Aven and Marisa both swam a best time in 1:09.9, their first times under 1:10 ever.

In the 14 and under girls relay, they were able to take over 6 seconds off of their entry time with a 4:47.6. Their splits of 1:11.9 (Aven - Back), 1:23.5 (Morgan - Breast), 1:09.8 (Marisa - Aven) and 1:02.8 (Taylor - Free) put them 3rd with one heat left to swim. Finals start tonight at 2:30 PDT.

Day 2 Finals - Age Nationals 2007 - Montreal

2007-07-20T17:51:00.000-07:00

The rain...yeah, it's still here. But we hear that it's supposed to be sunny tomorrow. Anyway, we have some finals to talk about.

Up first was Marisa's 200 Fly. After having to take the long way to get there via swim off, she started her race right in the middle of the hardest rain of the day, a veritable monsoon, and was solid again but a little off her morning swim in 2:35. Marisa finished 10th in her very first ever National final. Congratulations to her. Alec was up next and was also a little off his morning swim in 2:24.2, missing the bronze medal by .03, finishing 4th overall.

Kirsten was in lane 1 in tonights 50 breast final and swam her first ever 50 breast LC under 36 in a time of 35.8, making some very good adjustments from her morning swim. In the final swim of the night, Alec swam a very strong 400 free, going head to head for the whole race with the eventual gold medal winner. Alec finished only a second back of the gold with a time of 4:26.8, another best time and club record.

CRKW sits with 117 points, already surpassing their best ever total of 64 points from last season and 61 points from the year before with two days remaining in the meet. Tomorrow's session sees 200 free, 100 breast, 200 back and 100 fly before the 14 and under girls swim the 4 x 100 Medley relay. You can email your best wishes to the swimmers at adahl@uniserve.com

Day 2 Prelims - Age Nationals 2007 - Montreal

2007-07-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

The skies opened today. Big time. Yet somehow through the blowing winds, hard rain and 15 degree weather or cooler, we managed to swim ok and move three swimmers through to finals in four different events.

The 200 fly was first off. Alec picked up a best time and club record with a 2:23.9 and will swim in lane 6 in tonights final. Marisa swam a 2:34.8 to tie for 11th place and had to have a swim off for the first alternate position. In the swim off, she overcame a 1.5 second deficit at the 150 to storm back and out-touch and out-tough her competitor from Etobicoke to win the swim off by .15. Immediately after the swim off, she was informed that there was a scratch in the final, meaning she will swim in tonights final in lane 9 in 10th place. Taylor had a good 200 fly, splitting in 1:20 and finishing in 2:49.0.

In the 100 back, Aven was our only competitor and, although she was not a best time, she had a very strong swim in 1:11.6 just after the storm broke. She was fast out at the 50 and won her heat with a strong race.

In the 50 breaststroke, Aven and Morgan were both best times in 37.7 and 39.0 respectively while Kirsten was slightly over her best time in 36.11 but was good enough for a club record and a 7th place finish, putting her in lane 1 in tonights final.

Finally, there were the 400 freestyles. Keep in mind, it's now been raining hard for about 4 hours and we're starting to get a little cold. Taylor was 5:02 and Marisa 4:51...enough said. Alec put in a great swim under the circuimstances in 4:27.9 and will swim in tonights final in lane 3 going in third.

In the girls relay, their splits of 1:02.9 (Aven - Club Record), 1:08.8 (Morgan), 1:06.0 (Taylor) and 1:03.3 (Marisa - 10 minutes after her 200 fly swim off) made up a time of 4:21.0 which was 4 seconds under their entry time, good enough for at least 15th place after tonights final heat.

Finals resume at 2:30 pm PDT.

Day One Results - Age Nationals - Montreal

2007-07-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

Day one started with a bang...then the rain came.

Kirsten was the first swim of the meet and what a great swim it was. With a blistering time of 27.99 in the girls 50 freestyle, she not only became the first CRKW girl ever to swim the 50 free under 28 seconds long course, she qualified 10th to swim in tonights A final. She was a touch slower tonight but still finished in 10th place overall in the 15 year old girls age group. Following Kirstens 50 free this morning was Alec's 200 IM where he improved his time by 3 seconds, swimming a 2:26.7, qualifying 6th for tonights final. Improving his fly and breast splits in tonights final, he dropped another second in the final and finished in 7th place overall. The third individual swim this morning was Aven's 50 back where she improved her time and club record by half a second, swimming the race in 33.1, missing the final by a mere .06 seconds, placing 11th.

In the 1500 freestyle, the skies opened. The rain started half way through Alec's race and continued and strengthened and, by the time we ended with Morgan's swim, it was in full force. Marisa swam her second best time ever but was a little off her time. Taylor was under her best LC time and made the qualifying standard LC while Morgan was over her best time. Alec swam a best time of 17:23.9 which was the fastest time in his age group to that point but that time was bettered in the next heat, leaving him in second place with the silver medal.

Swimming continues tomorrow through Sunday and you can continue to check live results by clicking here.

VIR's Day 2

2007-06-10T07:42:00.000-07:00

Another great day for CRKW swimmers saw some very fast swimming and good results in last nights finals. Some results are still not available as of this morning from last nights finals.

10 and Under 200 IM
Finn Page Silver

400 IM
12 and Under Girls
Jennifer Guindon Gold - New Club Record
Jocelyn Cormier 4th
Karlyn Healy 6th

13 and 14 Girls
Aven Preston Gold
Marisa Gorjeu Bronze

15 and Over Girls
Kirsten Rowbotham 7th

13 and 14 Boys
Alec Page Gold
David John Palmer 6th

15 and Over Boys
Adriaan Kruger 4th

100 Back
13 and 14 Girls
Aven Preston Bronze

11 and 12 Boys
Tyler Cowan 6th

15 and Over Boys
Deke Botsford Silver
Adriaan Kruger 5th

200 Breaststroke
11 and 12 Girls
Jennifer Guindon Gold

15 and Over Girls
Kirsten Rowbotham 4th

13 and 14 Boys
David John Palmer 4th

100 Butterfly
12 and Under Girls
Jocelyn Cormier Gold
Jennifer Guindon 4th

13 and 14 Girls
Mairsa Gorjeu 4th
Aven Preston 5th
Taylor Padington 8th

13 and 14 Boys
Alec Page Silver

200 Freestyle
12 and Under Girls
Jocelyn Cormier 5th

13 and 14 Girls
Marisa Gorjeu Bronze
Taylor Padington 6th

11 and 12 Boys
Tyler Cowan 7th

13 and 14 Boys
Alec Page Silver

Day 1 - VIR LC Champs

2007-06-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

It was a full team effort on day one of the VIR LC Champs here in Victoria. Many of the 20 swimmers in attendance on day one were able to score in the points, helping the Killer Whales to a strong day 1 performance.

50 Free
12 and Under Girls
Jennifer Guindon Bronze
Jocelyn Cormier 5th
Marissa Boyle 8th

13 and 14 Girls
Aven Preston 4th

15 and Over Girls
Kirsten Rowbotham 5th

12 and Under Boys
Tyler Cowan 8th

13 and 14 Boys
David John Palmer 5th

15 and Over Boys
Adriaan Kruger 7th

100 Breaststroke
12 and Under Girls
Jennifer Guindon Silver
Karlyn Healy 7th

13 and 14 Girls
Aven Preston 6th

15 and Over Girls
Kirsten Rowbotham Gold

13 and 14 Boys
Alec Page Gold
David John Palmer 5th

200 IM
12 and Under Girls
Karlyn Healy 7th

13 and 14 Girls
Marisa Gorjeu 4th

15 and Over Boys
Adriaan Kruger 4th

800 Free
13 and 14 Boys
Alec Page Gold - New Club Record - New Junior National Qualifying Time
David John Palmer Bronze

15 and Over Boys
Adriaan Kruger Silver

1500 Free
12 and Under Girls
Jennifer Guindon Bronze
Karlyn Healy 5th
Marissa Boyle 6th

13 and 14 Girls
Marisa Boyle Silver - New Club Record
Taylor Padington 4th
Morgan Healy 5th
Aven Preston 6th

15 and Over Girls
Kirsten Rowbotham 4th
Jane Pomeroy 5th
Andrea Bernard 6th
Carly Papagiannis 7th

Island LC Invitational - Day 2

2007-04-21T23:06:00.000-07:00

Day 2 saw some more impressive racing from CRKW swimmers, including some event wins, some great relays and some more club records and best times. Details below. Full meet results can be found by clicking here.

400 Free Relay
11 and 12 Girls A Team
Taylor Padington 1:06.3 Club Record
Jennifer Guindon 1:08.5
Jocelyn Cormier 1:08.0
Karlyn Healy 1:12.3

2nd Place 4:35.2

15 and Over Girls A Team
Kirsten Rowbotham 1:03.0
Aven Preston 1:04.1
Marisa Gorjeu 1:05.3
Jane Pomeroy 1:07.0

3rd Place 4:19.6

400 Freestyle
Taylor Padington 5:04.7 1st Place 12 and under girls
Jennifer Guindon 5:19.8 4th Place 12 and under girls
Marisa Gorjeu 4:50.0 6th Place 13 and 14 girls
Alec Page 4:28.9 2nd Place 13 and 14 boys CluB Record

200 Breaststroke
Jennifer Guindon 3:07.1 4th Place 12 and under girls
Aven Preston 2:58.0 3rd Place 13 and 14 girls
Marisa Gorjeu 3:07.1 8th Place 13 and 14 girls
Kirsten Rowbotham 2:47.1 1st Place 15 and over girls
Jane Pomeroy 3:12.1 8th Place 15 and over girls
Alec Page 2:51.2 2nd Place 13 and 14 boys
David John Palmer 3:03.5 6th Place 13 and 14 boys

100 Backstroke
Taylor Padington 1:18.1 2nd Place 12 and under girls
Aven Preston 1:11.1 2nd Place 13 and 14 girls Club Record
Alec Page 1:12.2 5th Place 13 and 14 boys

200 IM
Taylor Padington 2:50.9 5th Place 12 and under girls
Jennifer Guindon 2:51.7 6th Place 12 and under girls
Alec Page 2:29.9 4th Place 13 and 14 boys

Other great swims were put in today by Morgan Healy, Karlyn Healy and Jocelyn Cormier.

Day 1 - Island LC Invitational

2007-04-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

The first day of the Island LC Invitational was a strong one for the Killer Whales Swim Club. Below is a list of high lights from the days racing. Full results can be found by clicking here.

200 Freestyle
Taylor Padington 1st 12 and under girls 2:23.8
New Club Record
Jennifer Guindon 5th 12 and under girls 2:33.3
Aven Preston 7th 13 and 14 girls 2:19.9
Alec Page 4th 13 and 14 boys 2:08.7

100 Breaststroke
Jennnifer Guindon 3rd 12 and under girls 1:26.6
Aven Preston 3rd 13 and 14 girls 1:23.0
Kirsten Rowbotham 1st 15 and over girls 1:16.9
New Club Record
Alec Page 2nd 13 and 14 boys 1:20.4
David John Palmer 5th 13 and 14 boys 1:29.0

200 Butterfly
Taylor Padington 1st 12 and under girls 2:47.7
Marisa Gorjeu 4th 13 and 14 girls 2:37.5
Alec Page 2nd 13 and 14 girls 2:24.7
New Club Record

50 Freestyle
Taylor Padington 2nd 12 and under girls 30.8
Jennifer Guindon 5th 12 and under girls 31.7
Aven Preston 4th 13 and 14 girls 29.3
Kirsten Rowbotham 6th 15 and over girls 29.6

800 Freestyle
Taylor Padington 1st 12 and under girls 10:22.0
Jennifer Guindon 4th 12 and under girls 11:02.3
Karlyn Healy 8th 12 and under girls 11:36.9
Marisa Gorjeu 3rd 13 and 14 girls 10:00.3
Aven Preston 8th 13 and 14 girls 10:27.6
Kirsten Rowbotham 8th 15 and over girls 10:30.3

1500 Freestyle
Alec Page 2nd 13 and 14 boys17:25.3
New Club Record

Other strong swims were turned in by Morgan Healy, Jane Pomeroy and Jocelyn Cormier.

Great Day 3

2007-03-04T07:01:00.000-08:00

Day three saw another great day of racing at AAA Provincials in Victoria. The following swims saw second swim action on day three.

50 Fly
Finn Page - 5th - 40.17

200 Fly
Taylor Padington - 7th - 2:45.85
Carter Gorjeu - 6th - 2:51.49
Marisa Gorjeu - 13th - 2:33.85
Alec Page - 5th - 2:23.02

100 Back
Carter Gorjeu - 12th - 1:17.27
Aven Preston - 7th - 1:07.83 - New Club Record

200 Breast
Jennifer Guindoin - 8th - 2:57.76
Kirsten Rowbotham - 10th - 2:43.33

400 Free
Taylor Padington - 10th - 4:58.18
Marisa Gorjeu - 12th - 4:40.33
Alec Page - 8th - 4:29.14

In the relays, again, the 11-12 and 13-14 girls placed in the top 8 while the 13-14 boys and 15 and over girls were far under their seed time, swimming excellent splits and combined times.

11-12 girls
Karlyn 39.1 Back
Jennifer 38.2 Breast
Jocelyn 34.0 Fly
Taylor 29.6 Free

13-14 girls
Aven 32.1 Back
Morgan 37.2 Breast
Marisa 31.0 Fly
Taylor 28.9 Free

13-14 boys
Carter 35.4 Back
Tylor 39.5 Breast
Alec 29.8 Fly
David 29.2 Free

15 and over girls - Club Record
Alisha 35.4 Back
Kirsten 34.2 Breast
Carly 33.6 Fly
Jane 30.6 Free

Full results for all swimmers can be found by clicking here. Follow along live. CRKW remains in 14th place overall in the meet.

AAA Provincials - Day 2

2007-03-02T21:57:00.000-08:00

Day 2 was another great day for the Killer Whales. Full results can be found by clicking here. Highlights were as follows.

100 Free
Taylor Padington 8th in finals
Carter Gorjeu 6th in finals (1:06.1)
Aven Preston 12th in finals (1:02.8)
Alec Page 10th in finals (58.1)

400 IM
Carter Gorjeu 7th in finals (5:50.9)
Marisa Gorjeu 15th in finals (5:24.9) Club record in prelims

200 Back
Taylor Padington 12th in finals (2:41.4)
Aven Preston 10th in finals (2:27.3 - club record)

100 Breast
Jennifer Guindon 12th in finals (1:23.2)
Aven Preston 10th in finals (1:20.0)
Kirsten Rowbotham 4th in finals (1:15.1 - club record)

On relays, the club was again excellent.

11-12 girls
Taylor 30.2
Jennifer 30.4
Jocelyn 30.7
Karlyn 32.5
Total time - 2:03.8 - club record

13-14 girls
Aven 28.3
Marisa 28.7
Morgan 30.1
Taylor 29.2

1:56.3 - club record

15 - 17 girls
Kirsten 27.9
Carly 30.2
Jane 30.2
Alisha 30.5

1:58.8 - club record

13-14 boys
Alec 27.4
David 29.1
Carter 29.8
Tylor 30.7

Total time 1:57.7

CRKW sits in 14th place overall after 2 days of competition.

AAA Provincials - Day 1

2007-03-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

The distance events were great, the relays were even better!!!

Early in the day, the 800 free for girls and 1500 for boys was excellent for most swimmers. On the girls side, Marisa Gorjeu had the best result, placing 7th in the girls 13-14 800 free, taking 11 seconds off her best time with a swim of 9:31.1. Also swimming the 800 in the 13-14 girls age group was Aven Preston (10:05) and Morgan Healy (10:12). In the 11-12 girls event, Taylor Padington (10:20) and Jennifer Guindon (10:21) were 9th and 10th respectively. Karlyn Healy had a great swim, making the AAA time for 11-12 girls with a swim of 10:56, over 20 seconds under her best time. Kirsten Rowbotham rounded out the girls side with a time of 9:44 in the 15 and over girls event, a best time by 20 seconds.

On the boys side, Carter Gorjeu had the best result with a 5th place finish and a time of 19:49, an excellent swim. In the 13-14 age group, Alec Page was 10th and David John Palmer was a best time by over 2 minutes with a time of 20:21.

Like I said, the relays were even better. Here's the stats.

11-12 girls
Entry Time 4:35.9
Finish Time 4:30.2
Place - 8th

Taylor 1:05.2
Jennifer 1:06.5
Jocelyn 1:07.5
Karlyn 1:11.5

13-14 girls
Entry Time 4:19.0
Finish Time 4:12.1
Place - 6th

Aven 1:02.1
Marisa 1:01.7
Morgan 1:04.4
Taylor 1:03.7

15 - 17 girls
Entry Time 4:24.9
Finish Time 4:19.4
Place 18th

Kirsten 1:00.1
Jane 1:05.9
Carly 1:07.2
Alisha 1:06.1

Excellent day - excellent swims!!!!!! Leave your comments here for passalong to the swimmers. Live results can be found by clicking here.

Day four final results

2007-02-18T18:40:00.000-08:00

Day four saw some more good swimming from our Killer Whales. Kirsten swam a decent 1:16.8 this morning for 100 breast, good enough for 6th in the C final and another crack at it tonight. Aven swam a best time in 100 fly with a 1:09.5 while Marisa had a much better swim in the 800 free with a time of 9:58.7.

In tonights final, Kirsten swam in lane 7 and got into a great battle with the swimmer in lane 5 and, in the end, was beaten but ended up 2nd in the C final with a time of 1:15.6.

Great job by Marisa, Aven and Kirsten in representing Campbell River and CRKW this week. Great job girls!!!

2nd in B Final for Kirsten

2007-02-17T19:22:00.000-08:00

Kirsten Rowbotham had an excellent B final swim tonight in the 50 breaststroke, breaking her own club record for the second time in as many attempts this weekend with a blistering time of 34.56, good enough for 10th place overall at the Western National Championships here in Regina. Turning with the leaders at the wall in 16.0, she had a great executed turn from practicing it during the weekend and went ahead of the field, just out-touched at the wall.

Tomorrow will see Kirsten try to make it to the finals again, this time in the 100 breaststroke while Aven will swim 100 fly and Marisa 800 Free.

Day 3 Results

2007-02-17T09:50:00.000-08:00

Day three saw it's ups and downs like the other two days but overall, the performances were a little more consistent. Marisa swam a 2:37.9 200 fly first off this morning and, while off her best time by about 5-6 seconds, looked good on stroke and showed some improvement in her swimming. She will look to pick up her second best time of the weekend tomorrow morning in the 800 freestyle to close out her weekend. Aven was next with a 2:51.9 200 breaststroke and, with a lot of front end speed in the race (1:21.3 at the 100), she looks to be very strong tomorrow in the 100 fly to finish her meet. Kirsten was 2:46.9 in the 200 this morning, about a second and a half over her best and, like Aven, showed good easy speed at the 100 (37.0 / 1:19.1) but had a hard time closing the deal on the last 100. Her 100 freestyle was a great swim only 3o minutes later however, as she split 29.9 at the 50 and came back hard in 31.9 for a best time and club record of 1:01.8, her first time under 1:02. She will finish her weekend tomorrow in the womens 100 breaststroke where she is favored to move on to a second swim tomorrow night.

Kirsten will swim approximately 7:40 pm tonight local time (5:40 pm Campbell River time) in the B final of the Women's 50 breaststroke final. She will race in lane 8 in tonights final and look to improve her ranking in the event and inch closer to the senior national time of 34.05.

Day 2 Results

2007-02-16T15:34:00.000-08:00

Day two was a good day for the three girls, although their were only three swims to report. Kirsten showed great stroke technique in the 50 free but was a little slower than her best in 28.6. Marisa was next up and made some very important stroke adjustments after her 1500 yesterday, swimming a 4:46.5, which was a little slower than VIR's but was her second fastest 400 ever. Finally was Aven's 100 Back and she was able to swim a very controlled 34.1 / 34.7 for a best time and a club record.

So far we have 4 lifetime best times out of 8 swims and have broken 2 club records. Tomorrow will see Aven and Kirsten race the 200 breast, Kirsten will also swim 100 free and Marisa will swim first again, this time in the 200 fly where she will look to swim fast off of her best time yesterday in the 50.

Day 1 Results

2007-02-15T17:51:00.000-08:00

Day one saw a little of everything but when all the dust settled, all three of the girls swam at least one best time, including a top 16 result.

Marisa had a less than stellar 1500 free but then bounced right back with a great 50 fly, taking over a second off her best time, swimming the event in 32.2. Aven also swam the 50 fly, placing 47th with a time of 30.64 and also making the qualifying time in the event for the first time.

In the 50 breaststroke, Kirsten swam a lifetime best time 34.83, placing 15th going into Saturday nights 50 breaststroke final. She was the 8th fastest 15 and under girl.

In the 50 backstroke, Aven swam a 32.5 and, while lacking a little front end speed, she had a very good second 25 and looks good for tomorrow's 100 backstroke.

In a new format this year, there is no separation between the 15 and 16 overs as has been the way it has been done in the past. With Kirsten's 15th place qualifying swim in the 5o breaststroke, it makes her 15th overall in Western Canada, regardless of age. If the girls are to make second swims this season, they will need to swim against all ages to do so.

Kirsten will swim the 50 Breaststroke B final on Saturday night.

Live Results for Western Canadian Nationals

2007-02-15T08:49:00.000-08:00

You can follow the progress of your Killer Whales by clicking here to go to a live results page. Thursday is the first day of competition, which will see Marisa swimming 1500 free and 50 fly, Kirsten swimming 50 breast and Aven swimming 50 back and 50 fly. Competition starts at 11:30 am PST, with Marisa swimming about 1:00 pm PST and the 50's starting after that.

Coach Carly Qualifies!

2007-01-20T19:53:00.000-08:00

In a night filled with excellent results, the Killer Whales once again showed their dominance in some events while some swimmers really shone through in the pinch and had some excellent swims. In the feel good story of the night, Carly Papagiannis picked up her first AAA time in 5 years with a smokin' 200 Breast time in 3:01.5 in the 15 and over A final. Another new qualifier was Karlyn Healy in the 11-12 girls 400 IM. Her time of 6:13 eclipsed the time required and makes her eligible to race at AAA provincials in March as well. Congratulations to you both.

Here are some of the highlights of the night.

Relays
10 and under girls 6th
11 and 12 girls Gold
13 and 14 girls Gold
11 and 12 boys Silver

400 IM
Jennifer Guindon Bronze
Carter Gorjeu Gold
David John Palmer Silver

100 Backstroke
Taylor Padington Silver
Aven Preston Bronze
Carter Gorjeu Silver
Alec Page Gold
Deke Botsford Gold

200 Breaststroke
Kirsten Rowbotham Silver
David John Palmer Gold

100 Butterfly
Taylor Padington Bronze
Alec Page Gold

200 Free
Taylor Padington Gold
David John Palmer Silver
Carter Gorjeu Bronze
Alec Page Gold

Distance Dominance on Day 1 of VIR's

2007-01-19T19:16:00.000-08:00

CRKW showed their distance chops on the first day of the VIR champs on Friday with some amazing results. In the 800 freestyle, Karlyn Healy had a tremendous swim in 6th place with an 11:19, a very large improvement over her best time. On the boys side, the dominance began. David John Palmer won the gold in the 11-12 boys while Carter Gorjeu came in a very close silver in the same event. Alec Page broke the 13-14 boys record with an outstanding gold medal performance in the 800 freestyle. Tylor Love placed 4th in the same event.

In the 1500 freestyle, Taylor Padington won gold in the 12 and under girls 1500 freestyle in a club record while Jennifer Guindon won the bronze in the event. Marisa Gorjeu placed 2nd in the 13-14 girls with a time of 18:21, qualifying her for Western National Championships in Regina next month. Kirsten Rowbotham placed 4th in the same event with Aven Preston placing 5th and Morgan Healy placing 6th. In the 15 and over girls event, Nicole Dawson won the gold medal with Jessica Harris in silver, Jane Pomeroy bronze, Andrea Bernard 4th and Alisha Clark 5th for a clean sweep.

During the nights finals, starting with the 50 free, there were also some top notch performances. Taylor Padington won the silver in the 11 - 12 girls while Jennifer Guindon and Jocelyn Cormier also made the top 8 in the event. Aven Preston won the 13-14 girls 50 free with a blazing 28.1 victory and Kirsten Rowbotham was 5th in the final. On the boys side, David John Palmer won his second gold of the meet with a very strong 29.4 while Carter Gorjeu came in for the silver with a 29.8. Alec Page won silver in the 50 free with a 28.0 in the 13-14 boys to round out the top 8's for the event.

In the 100 breast, Jennifer Guindon won silver in the 11-12 girls event while Kirsten Rowbotham won the 13-14 girls event with a 1:16.2 with Aven Preston and Morgan Healy also making the top 8 in the event. On the boys side, Dustin Love and Tylor Love both made the final tonight with Dustin in the 11-12 boys event while Tylor placed in the 13-14 boys event.

In the final event of the night, the 200 IM, Carter Gorjeu won the silver medal in the 11-12 boys event while Alec Page won bronze in the 13-14 event.

Racing continues tomorrow. Live results can be found by clicking here.

VIR Champs

2007-01-18T14:29:00.000-08:00

CRKW is on their way to Victoria today for the Vancouver Island Regional Championships. 28 swimmers from CRKW will compete, trying to improve on their 3rd place finish from the last 3 VIR Champs meets. Live results should be available at http://www.islandswimming.com/ and by following the links. You can post your best wishes to swimmers on this site by posting a message on each of these writeups.

Day 2 Christmas Cracker

2006-12-09T21:05:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-08T19:47:00.000-08:00

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.

Day 2 - Island Pacific Cup

2006-11-11T20:44:00.000-08:00

Day two saw some equally impressive swimming at this weekends Island Pacific Cup. 400 Freestyle's were first up this morning and making finals was Taylor Padington (5:08), Carter Gorjeu (5:23) and David John Palmer (5:25). In finals, all three improved their times with Padington going 5:04, Gorjeu 5:13 and Palmer 5:17. Other impressive 400 free's were put in by Karlyn Healy (5:36), Alec Page (4:37), Marisa Gorjeu (4:49), Morgan Healy (5:02) and Jennifer Guindon (5:22).

Second event of the day was 200 Breaststroke and David John Palmer, Jennifer Guindon and Kirsten Rowbotham all made finals at night. Palmer was a best time in heats and finals (3:12) while Guindon struggled a bit in the finals but had very strong heat swims with Guindon going 3:03 and Rowbotham swimming it in 2:46. Other excellent 200 Breast events were Morgan Healy (2:54), Deirdre Huestis (2:58) and Alec Page (2:55).

100 Back was next and Carter Gorjeu was the only Killer Whale to break the top 8. He was 1:18 both times, a bit faster in finals, placing 4th in the final with a very good swim. Aven Preston was a best time and club record in 1:11.1 while Morgan Healy was 1:17.9 and other strong swims were put in by Kirsten Rowbotham, Marisa Gorjeu and Taylor Padington.

200 IM was last and Guindon and Gorjeu were again good enough to move through to finals. They both were unable to improve their times but both swam very good races. Aven Preston was a best time in 2:36 while Jessica Harris, Andrea Bernard and Carly Papagiannis all had good swims in the heats.

The 4 x 100 Free Relays went in finals and the 11-12 girls and 13-14 girls were both impressive, placing in the top 8 both times. For the 11-12 girls, Taylor Padington (1:07.9), Jennifer Guindon (1:11.0), Jocelyn Cormier (1:12.0) and Marisa Boyle (1:15.5) combined for a 4:46.5. The 13-14 girls also had a great swim with Aven Preston (1:03.2), Kirsten Rowbotham (1:01.9), Jane Pomeroy (1:06.6) and Marisa Gorjeu (1:03.8), combining for a 4:15.5 and a very good swim.

The 12 & Under Jamboree was held during the break of the Island Cup, the Killer Whales were out in full force. Im's were up first with several swimmers swimming well in their heats. Kurrah Hill, Siobhan Hudson and Finn Page posted best times in the event.

50 fly was up next, Killer Whales have been spending some time on this stroke in the past couple of weeks and it showed, technique had improved and the emphasis was more on speed. Kiersten Padington, Siobhan Hudson, Annalies Turley and Brittnie Hill all posted best times.

The 100 Back events followed with a huge success fo the CRKW Team. Tamara Adamschek had a great swim posting a 1:41.7 - 5 seconds off her best time! Annalies Turley, Kurrah Hill and Jennifer Miller had best times as well.

Brittnie Hill had a great 50 Breast race finishing strong and psoting a time of 46.5. Finn Page looked strong in his race as well as Tyler Cowan and Jennifer Miller.

The last race of the day was the 100 Free - the Killer Whales looked strong and placed well in the event. Kurrah Hill, Siobhan Hudson and Brittnie Hill all had best times.

Stay tune for more results from tomorrow's racing.

CRKW Results - Day 1 of Island Cup Invitational

2006-11-10T20:14:00.000-08:00

Day one of the Island Pacific Cup showcased some very fast swimming from the Killer Whales. In the evening finals CRKW amassed 10 evening finals, including some much faster swims than the morning. In order of the events swum, Taylor Padington and Carter Gorjeu both had an 11-12 200 free final with Padington placing 6th and Gorjeu 7th respectively. Gorjeu's time of 2:27 was 5 second faster than his qualifying swim in the preliminaries.

Coming up after the 200 free was the 100 breaststroke where Jennifer Guindon took out the first 50 in a blazing 39.5 but faultered a bit to finish in 8th in a best time of 1:26.6. Kirsten Rowbotham entered the 13-14 girls final in third place and, after posting a best time of over a second in 1:14.8 in the final, going head to head with two other fast girls, she ended up in third place overall.

The 200 fly also saw two finals with Padington swimming her senond of the night and posting a best time of 3:03 in the finals, good enough for 6th place. Alec Page also saw action in the 13-14 boys 200 fly final swimming a 2:33, placing 7th overall.

The 50 free finals were the last events of the session and the Killer Whales went out in style!!! Carter Gorjeu and David John Palmer were up first in the boys 11-12 final and Gorjeu placed 2nd in 30.3 while Palmer finished in 3rd place with a 30.7. Following them was Kirsten Rowbotham and Aven Preston in the 13-14 girls final. Rowbotham won the event in a best time of 27.8 while Preston placed third with a time of 28.43, qualifying her for the Western Canadian National Championships in Regina in February, joining Rowbotham as CRKW's two current qualifiers.

From the morning session, other sensational swims were done by Morgan Healy (10:08.1 in the 800 free / 1:21.0 in the 100 breaststroke), Marisa Gorjeu (9:42 in the 800 Free), Adriaan Kruger (27.8 in the 50 free), Karlyn Healy (33.9 in the 50 free), Jocelyn Cormier (32.5 in the 50 free), Jane Pomeroy (2:22 in the 20 free), Andrea Bernard (32.4 in the 50 free), Jessica Harris (31.1 in the 50 free) and Carly Papagiannis (32.1 in the 50 free).

Racing resumes tomorrow. Live results can be found by clicking here.

Alec Page Breaks BC Provincial Record

2006-10-27T23:50:00.001-07:00

Alec Page was in fine early season form with a BC Provincial Record breaking swim in the mens 800 freestyle tonight at the BC Senior Circuit Meet. His time of 9:35.81 is two seconds better than the previous record and was masterfully split in 4:47 and 4:47. Finishing the race in 1:09 he left no doubt in his pursuit of the record and was very excited at the end of the race, throwing his arms in the air with the only energy he had left after the race.

In other action on Friday, Aven Preston broke 3o in the 50 freestyle for the first time with a 29.65 and then broke the club record in the 100 backstroke with a 1:13.5. Kirsten Rowbotham had three strong results today, including a 2:38.5 200 IM while Marisa Gorjeu had an excellent opening day to the season swimming a 2:41 200 Fly, followed by a 10:03.11 in the girls 800 freestyle, only .5 seconds over her personal best time from last summer. Adriaan Kruger returned to competition with a best time in the 100 free and a good swim in the 200 backstroke while Andrea Bernard and Alisha Clark both opened their seasons with best times in the 50 freestyles early in the meet.

Competition resumes Saturday.

Little Whales Have Huge Showing at 1st Progressive of the Season

2006-10-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

50 Killer Whales strong, the CRKW swim club hosted the first Progressive meet of the season last Sunday and were very good.

Head coach Aaron Dahl was very impressed with the results from the Killer Whales.

"I think this is the best group of bronze swimmers the club has ever had" said Dahl of the swimmers at the meet. "I've seen how hard the coaches have been working to get the kids swimming with proper technique and getting them ready to race and it's really cool to see the results from the swimmers and coaches effort"

The next meet for the progressive level swimmers is in Port Alberni on Nov 26th.

Coach Carrie Matheson Named 10 and Under BCSCA Coach of the Year!!!

2006-09-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

For the second straight year the Killer Whales Swim Club has won a major award at the SWIM BC awards banquet.

Coach of the Bronze, Silver and Gold Squads last season, Carrie was named coach of the year for her 10 and unders performances at last seasons SC and LC AAA provincial championships. Her swimmers scored higher at those meets than any other club in the Province.

Congratulations to Carrie and her swimmers on this very prestigious award!!!

Free Trial Week and Registration

2006-09-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

It's that time again! If you are a returning swimmer, and you haven't received your welcome back letter, please email me for information at aaron@crkw.ca. Otherwise, registration for returning swimmers is Wednesday, Septamber 13th from 4:00 - 6:00 pm at the pool, in the viewing area.

If you are a new swimmer to the program and would like to try it out for FREE, you can! Just phone Aaron at 923-9238 for information regarding the free week and free coaching assessments for your child. It runs from 4:00 - 5:00 pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with registration for new swimmers on Thursday, September 14th, 4:00 - 6:00 pm, also at the pool.

See you there!

Pan Pac Results

2006-08-17T19:35:00.001-07:00

With the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships going on in Victoria this weekend, you can check live results by clicking here.

New Video

2006-08-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

Check out the video to the right for some laughs. I can think of a couple lifeguards I know like this...Enjoy!

Page 5th, Calder 9th on Day 4.

2006-07-23T17:20:00.000-07:00

Jared Calder pulled out the swim of the day on the Sunday of Age Group Nationals in Calgary, clocking a time of 27.46 in todays 50 Fly. An improvement of two seconds, he narrowly missed the final by 0.05 seconds.

While the 200 Breasts and 100 Free's were average, the 800 Freestyles were excellent. Marisa got us off on the right foot. After a blazing 32.22 in her 50 Fly, she posted a very strong 10:02.4 in the 800 Free, 5 seconds under her best time from AAA's. Next up was Morgan, who posted a time of 10:51.2 which was 8 seconds better than her AAA's swim but off of her split from the 1500 on Thursday.

The last swim of the swason for our team was Alec,s 800, where he was looking for a Provincial Record in the event. In a very brave race, Alec split well but didn't quite have enough for the record but did finish 5th in a time of 9:42.2.

The Killer Whales finish the meet with 64 points, 4 more than last year with 5 scoring top 8 swims in Canada.

Congratulations.

8th Again

2006-07-22T21:16:00.001-07:00

Kirsten swam a very hard fought 100 Breast Final tonight but still had to settle for 8th in tonights National Final. She will try, along with the rest of the team, to keep our string of 11 consecutive days of National level meets with at least one final tomorrow.

8th Again

2006-07-22T21:16:00.000-07:00

Rowbotham to Finals again on Day 3

2006-07-22T12:23:00.000-07:00

Kirsten was able to fight off a hard challenge this morning in the girls 100 breast to qualify 8th for tonights final. Her time of 1:18.43 is .6 off of her best time but her opening 50 in 36.9 looks promising for tonights final, to run at 5:40 PST.

In other action, best times were posted by Morgan Healy (1:27.6) in the 100 Breast and Jared Calder in the 200 free (2:08.5).

Rowbotham 8th in Final

2006-07-22T06:19:00.000-07:00

Kirsten was a little slower than her morning swim in tonights National Final, swimming a 36.4, settling for 8th place. Her stroke was very good but lacked the speed in the stroke to really get the speed up where she wanted it. Congratulations Kirsten!!!

Rowbotham to finals on day 2

2006-07-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

Kirsten Rowbotham swam a 36.06 in the 50 Breast tonight to qualify in 7th place for tonights 50 Breast National Final!!! Her race will be swum at approximately 6:00 pm PST.

In other action for the Killer Whales, Morgan Healy had a very strong 400 Freestyle, clocking a 5:11 for a best time while Andrea Gilbert swam a best time and club record in the 100 back with a 1:10.5.Rowbatham's 50 Breast was also a club record.

Gilbert 6th in National Backstroke Final

2006-07-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

Not even a brush with the lane rope out in lane 8 could slow down Andrea Gilbert in the final of the 16-18 year old girls 50 Backstroke tonight. Her time of 32.34 was two tenths of a second faster than her morning swim and was good enough for 6th place. Congratulations Andrea!!!

Page 4th in the 1500, Gilbert to Finals in the 50 Back

2006-07-20T15:35:00.000-07:00

On a morning that started out average, the Killer Whales finished it off in style. As reported earlier, Andrea Gilbert swam a time of 32.54 in the 50 back and was thought to be 10th. As it turned out, she ended up 8th and will swim in the National Final tonight at 6:00 pm PST.

Alec Page swam an incredible race in the 13 and under boys 1500 freestyle. Swimming the first 500 meters in 6:02 and holding a strong pace of 1:12's and 1:13's the rest of the way, he posted the 4th fastest time in his age group, narrowly missing the podium in the event by 0.3 seconds. His time of 18:11.7 was 10 seconds faster than his already club record swim at AAA Provincials. His 800 split in the race was 9:41.7, only 3 seconds off the BC PROVINCIAL RECORD for the 800 freestyle for 12 and under boys. He will look to eclipse that mark on Sunday in the 800 free.

Morgan Healy was another standout for CRKW with a time of 20:12.70 in the girls 12 and under 1500 freestyle, placing 13th in Canada for her age group!!! She held a strong pace of 1:21.'s the whole way and finished great on the last 100. Marisa Gorjeu was the other 1500 freestyle competitor for CRKW and her time of 19:25.9 was a best time by 5 seconds and placed her 15th overall in Canada for 13 year old girls!!!

Also, going back to this mornings results, Jared Calder ended up 17th in the 50 free, Andrea Gilbert was 15th in the 50 free and Alec Page was 22nd in the 50 free, an off event for him.

This meet has an amazing new feature called SWIMMER MAIL. You can send your swimmer a good luck email and it will be delivered to the club file, right at the meet!!! Just click here to send your child / teammate / friend a good luck message.

More results after tonights final for Andrea in the 50 backstroke.

Day 1 Results Part 1

2006-07-20T10:40:00.000-07:00

The first day of Canadian Club Nationals has started with some good results with 5 races having been swum thus far.

Andrea was the busiest of the lot so far, swimming lifetime bests in the 50 Free and 50 Back. Her times of 28.1 and 32.5 are lifetime bests, her 50 back time missing a spot in the final by less than a tenth of a second.

Jared (26.1), Kirsten (29.2) and Alec (29.4) were all very well done, Jared in a lifetime best time and Alec and Kirsten right on their best times.

Still to come are the 1500's, featuring Marisa, Alec and Kirsten.

Day 1 Preliminaries - Event Line Up

2006-07-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

Day 1 Preliminaries at Canadian Club Nationals will see the following swims take place. Results will be posted as they happen. Live results can be found here.

50 Freestyle
Alec Page 9:50 am

Jared Calder 9:50 am

Kirsten Rowbotham 9:40 am
Andrea Gilbert 9:40 am

50 Backstroke
Andrea Gilbert 11:40 am

1500 Freestyle
Marisa Gorjeu 1:50 pm
Alec Page 2:33 pm
Morgan Healy 3:12 pm

Alec Page wins Regional Development Award

2006-07-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

Alec Page, 12, fresh off of a top level performance from the AAA Provincial Championships, was awarded the Regional Development Award for the Vancouver Island Region after the meets conclusion, scoring a Provincial high 62 points. Points were accumulated over the course of all events swum and top performances were recognized with a cheque for $125 from SWIM BC. Congratulations Alec.

6 Killer Whales to Age Group Nationals this weekend

2006-07-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

Six swimmers will represent CRKW this weekend in Calgary at the Canadian National Age Group Championships. Andrea Gilbert, Jared Calder, Kirsten Rowbotham, Marisa Gorjeu, Alec Page and Morgan Healy all qualified and will attend, going up against the best swimmers their age in the Country.

Swimmers will compete in the following events.

50 Freestyle
Andrea Gilbert
Jared Calder
Kirsten Rowbotham
Alec Page

100 Freestyle
Andrea Gilbert
Jared Calder
Kirsten Rowbotham
Alec Page

200 Freestyle
Jared Calder
Alec Page

400 Freestyle
Alec Page
Morgan Healy

800 Freestyle
Marisa Gorjeu
Alec Page
Morgan Healy

1500 Freestyle
Marisa Gorjeu
Alec Page
Morgan Healy

50 Backstroke
Andrea Gilbert

100 Backstroke
Andrea Gilbert

200 Backstroke
Andrea Gilbert

50 Breaststroke
Kirsten Rowbotham

100 Breaststroke
Kirsten Rowbotham
Morgan Healy

200 Breaststroke
Kirsten Rowbotham
Morgan Healy

50 Butterfly
Jared Calder
Marisa Gorjeu

100 Butterfly
Jared Calder
Marisa Gorjeu
Alec Page

200 Butterfly
Marisa Gorjeu
Alec Page

Results will be posted here daily during the meet, where live results will be found at www.swimming.ca

An article profiling all 6 swimmers attending the meet will be available online Wednesday at www.campbellrivermirror.com or in Wednesdays paper.

Words of encouragement for the team can be posted to this site and will be passed along to the swimmers when received.

Day 4 - AAA Provincial Championships

2006-07-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

The final day of the meet proved to be very successful for CRKW. Some timely performances and some good relays slingshotted us up the ladder into 10th place overall, a very excellent result for the team. Alec Page was again in fine form with a gold in the 400 free and a silver in the 100 fly, both club records. Kirsten Rowbotham was 6th in the girls 200 breast final while Marisa Gorjeu and Jared Calder got second swims in the 100 fly B final. Relays again proved to be good for the club as all three relays scored in the top 8 while the 10 and under girls relay was victorious again.

The final totals for the meet. 10 medals, 18 club records, 10th place overall, the 2nd and 5th best 10 and under girls in the meet (Jocelyn and Karlyn) and many outstanding performances. Congratulations to all swimmers for qualifying and doing such an incredible job.

Morgan Healy, Alec Page, Marisa Gorjeu, Kirsten Rowbotham, Andrea Gilbert and Jared Calder will travel to Calgary July 19th for Canadian Age Group Nationals. Good luck to them all!

Day 3 Finals

2006-07-08T21:41:00.000-07:00

With the addition of 10 and unders to the meet, our session was very successful. Jocelyn Cormier, Karlyn Healy and Marissa Boyle combined for some great swims. Jocelun won two events, while Karlyn made three finals and Marissa made one final, the 50 free. All times will be combined for 10 and unders at the end of the meet and swimmers will be ranked from there.

In the main event, the finals kept racking up for the Killer Whales. Alec Page had a tremendous 200 freestyle, swimming a 2:14.3 for a silver medal. Alec and Tylor Love both made the 11-12 100 breast final, placing 6th and 8th while Kirsten swam a 1:18.1 for 5th in the 13-14 girls 100 breast.

The final event of the night was the 11-12 boys 400 medley relay. The team of Carter, Tylor, Alec and David, bronze medalists in the relay on Thursday night, repeated their success tonight with a 5:11.7 clocking for bronze.

Day 3 Preliminaries - AAA Provincial Championships

2006-07-08T13:36:00.001-07:00

Day three saw some successful swims resulting in some finals tonight. Swims from this morning making it to finals were...

10 and under girls 100 backstroke - Jocelyn Cormier - 3rd, Karlyn Healy - 8th
11-12 Boys 200 Freestyle - Alec Page - 2nd
10 and under girls 50 freestyle - Jocelyn Cormier - 1st, Marissa Boyle - 3rd
10 and under girls 100 breaststroke - Jocelyn Cormier - 3rd, Karlyn Healy - 7th
11-12 boys 100 breaststroke - Alec Page - 5th, Tylor Love - 8th
13-14 girls 100 breaststroke - Kirsten Rowbotham - 5th

Other mentionable swims for the Killer Whales were best times in 200 Backstroke by Morgan Healy, Carter Gorjeu and Alisha Clark, best times in 200 freestyle by Tylor Love, Taylor Padington, Jennifer Guindon, Jane Pomeroyand Kirsten Rowbotham while more best times came in the 100 breaststroke by Morgan Healy, Jennifer Guindon, Tylor Love, Alec Page and David John Palmer.

Day 2 - AAA Provincial Championships

2006-07-07T22:07:00.000-07:00

Day 2 had it's ups and downs like any other swim meet but the ups outweighed the downs and the result was a great day, including maintaining our 3rd place ranking overall and the introduction of the 10 and unders to the meet.

The morning session started with 200 IM's. The swims were soft for the most part, but some very good swims did come out. Jared Calder swam a 2:27.8 for a lifetime best time by over three seconds, while Jane Pomeroy took 2 seconds from her best time with a 2:47.6. Tylor Love and David John Palmer both took more than 7 seconds off their best times, Tylor swimming a 2:59 while David coming in at an even 3:00. Jennifer Guindon chopped 6 seconds from her best time with a 3:00 clocking as well. Alec Page swam a 2:42 morning swim which was good enough to qualify him for the final in 3rd place.

200 Fly was next and even though we only had two swimmers in the event, both were good swims. Alec was first with a 2:41.0, only 0.1 over his best time, qualifying in first place. Marisa Gorjeu was next and her time of 2:39.9 was a 6 second improvement and was good enough for 10th place in the event.

50 freestyle was the last event of the morning and there were some very strong swims. Tylor Love swam a best time in the boys 12 and under event while Kirsten Rowbotham was a solid 28.87 in the 50 freestyle, a lifetime best, qualifying her for the final in 8th place. Andrea Gilbert was also very close to a best time with a 28.35 clocking and a 11th place finish, qualifying her for the B final of the senior girls. Tyson Berkenstock was in best time form with a 27.0 clocking.

Before the 10 and under took to the pool, Marisa got to swim her 800 freestyle and knocked off a 10.07.0, good enough for 11th place, moving up from 20th place in the rankings. She was 9 seconds better than her previous best time in the race, splitting perfectly.

The 10 and unders then got into the act, with the 400 freestyle and the 200 medley relay. Jocelyn Cormier, Karlyn Healy and Marissa Boyle are representing the club at the meet and they didn't dissapoint. Jocelyn swam a 5:31 for second place, Karlyn Healy was 5:48 for 4th and Marissa Boyle was 5:51 for 6th place. After the dust settled in that race, it was time for bragging rights as the relay was up. With the winning team widely recognized as the best 10 and under team in BC, the Killer Whales pulled off what they were expected to do...win the relay. In a comeback effort worthy of mentioning, the three girls, plus Kiersten Padington, pulled off a come from behind win in the medley relay, recording a time of 2:45.0 for a new club record and one of the fastest times in Canada this year.

In tonights finals, Alec Page was once again a one man point machine. First up was the 200 IM where he dropped 4 seconds from his morning swim with a 2:38.0, good enough for a bronze medal. But what he didn't have yet was the color he wanted most - gold. In his final event of the night, he had that chance. Taking the lead from the beginning of the 200 fly and then pulling away dramatically on the last 5o, Alec took the gold medal in a time of 2:35.0, a new club record and the third fastest time in Canada this year.

Kirsten overcame a poor start in the 50 free to post an 8th place finish while Andrea Gilbert came away with a 10th place finish and a blazing time of 28.05 in the 50 free in the senior girls 50 free.

Day 1 Finals - AAA Provincial AAA Championships

2006-07-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

Day 1 Finals saw some exciting finals and the best relays I've ever seen!!! More on the relays in a moment.

Alec had a big night, starting the night off with a mamoth 1500 freestyle where he beat his own club record and best time by over 30 seconds, recording a silver medal performance of 18:21.6. Less than 10 minutes later, he had to contend in the 100 freestyle. With a very tough fought performance of 1:03.6, he was rewarded with a bronze medal. Kirsten Rowbotham had a lifetime best time and club record in the 100 free consolation final with a 1:03.5.

Andrea Gilbert was our only 100 backstroke of the night and her time of 1:10.8 was the same as her morning swim and only slightly slower than her lifetime best time in the event.

400 IM's were last and Alec Page, still smarting a bit from his swims earlier in the evening, had a better swim from heats and recorded his third medal of the night, a silver, in the event.

Then came the relays and boy oh boy were they good!!!

The 12 and under girls were first and they all swam out of their minds, stepping up from 9th seed to score in 7th place overall. Split of 31.7 (Taylor), 32.3 (Morgan), 31.3 (Jennifer) and 31.9 (Jocelyn) put them in at a 2:07.6, a club record. The 13 and 14 girls, not to be outdone, swam this clubs very first LC free relay for girls under 2 minutes, setting a club record with a 1:59.99. Kirsten (28.9), Jane (30.4), Marisa (29.6) and Taylor (31.3) combined for the record setting swim.

Maybe the most exciting relay of the night was the 12 and under boys. Seeded 5th and looking to move up, their time of 2:02.4 was outstanding and good enough for the bronze medal. Alec (29.1), Tylor (31.8), David (31.0) and Carter (30.4) combined for the event, coming within half a second of the gold.

CRKW currently sits in 13th place after the first day, their best opening day in many years.

Day 1 Preliminaries - AAA Provincial Championships

2006-07-06T13:27:00.001-07:00

Day 1 had it's ups and downs like most meets but the ups were pretty good. 100 freestyle was the first event. Best times were recorded in the event by Alec Page (1:02.91 - 2nd going into finals), Carter Gorjeu (1:09.2 - 19th), David John Palmer (1:10.41 - 26th), Tylor Love (1:14.27 - 36th), Jane Pomeroy (1:05.89 - 31st) and Jared Calder (56.93 - 25th). Kirsten Rowbotham will also be in the consolation finals for the 100 free (1:03.71 - 15th).

The 100 backstroke saw Andrea Gilbert make the consolation final (1:10.81 - 16th), while Morgan Healy narrowly missed making the consolation final with a 1:19.96, a best time). Taylor Padington swam a best time (1:23.79 - 32nd).

The 400 IM's were next with Alec Page qualifying for the final in 2nd place while Marisa Gorjeu swam a best time in 5:45.65, placing 30th.

The 12 and unders then swam the 800 / 1500 freestyle events. Alec Page, ranked 2nd in the event, will swim it during tonights final session. Morgan Healy and Taylor Padington swam the 800 free while Carter Gorjeu raced the 1500 free for boys. While Carter struggled in his race, Morgan swam a best time 10:59.3 while Taylor swam a 11:15.3. Both girls improved their seed times by about 15 seconds.

Tonights finals will include the following.

1500 Freestyle
Alec Page - 11-12 Boys A Final

100 Freestyle
Alec Page - 11-12 boys A final
Kirsten Rowbotham - 13-14 Girls B Final

100 Backstroke
Andrea Gilbert - Senior Girls B Final

400 IM
Alec Page - 11-12 Boys A Final

200 Free Relays
11-12 Girls - Morgan Healy / Jennifer Guindon / Taylor Padington / Jocelyn Cormier
11-12 Boys - Alec Page / Carter Gorjeu / David John Palmer / Tylor Love
13-14 Girls - Kirsten Rowbotham / Marisa Gorjeu / Jane Pomeroy / Undecided

AAA Provincial Begin Thursday, July 6th

2006-07-05T00:43:00.000-07:00

17 CRKW swimmers will compete this weekend at the BC Provincial Swimming Championships. Sending it's biggest team in anyones memory, CRKW is looking to continue to show it's improvement over the past few seasons. Live results can be found by clicking here.

The following news article was in the Saanich News today, talking about the increase in the level of swimming in British Columbia.

05-Jul-06by Don Descoteau Saanich News
Young swimmers are getting faster in British Columbia.

That much is clear by the fact that more than 600 athletes will be at Saanich Commonwealth Pool and Elk Lake between this Thursday and Monday contesting the B.C. Provincial AAA-Open Long Course Championships.

"It says good things about swimming in B.C.," said Margaret Penning, club president of meet host Pacific Coast Swimming and co-manager for the provincial meet. "I think you're seeing more people who are working hard and being committed."

The Capital Region is no slouch in contributing to that total, as about 100 athletes from PCS, Island Swimming and the JayVacs club are suiting up. In fact, Greater Victoria, with its outstanding facilities and top-notch coaches, is one of the fastest growing areas in B.C. for competitive swimmers, Penning said.

Rod Barratt, athletic development co-ordinator for PCS, also coaches young swimmers for the club at Commonwealth pool. He expects the meet to be a fast one.

"It's going to be very competitive to get into the top eight," he said. "I'd say very few kids are going to sail into the finals."

Qualifying for this meet in the first place is no small feat for the swimmers age 15 and under, since they must record AAA-level times in their events. Despite the stringent requirements, an amazing 50 of 52 clubs provincewide will be represented.

Competitors at this week's events run the gamut, from eight year olds getting their first taste of a high-level meet to Olympian Rick Say and open water specialists Karley Stutzel and Dave Creel, who could represent Canada in Beijing in 2008 when their discipline is included for the first time in the Olympics.

The provincials get underway tomorrow (July 6) at 9 a.m. and run through Sunday. Heats run daily with finals set for Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. Open water competition goes Monday at Elk Lake. For ongoing results go to http://www.pacificcoastswimming.com.

Alec Wraps up in Baltimore

2006-06-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-10T21:14:00.001-07:00

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

2006-06-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

Day 3

2006-06-04T11:21:00.001-07:00

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

2006-06-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-02T12:42:00.001-07:00

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

2006-06-02T12:42:00.000-07:00

Day 1 of Bell Mel Zajac International

2006-06-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

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.

Return / Pick up time

2006-05-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

All swimmers will be returning to the Willow Point Budget for pick up at 4:30 pm,

Thanks

Final Session

2006-05-21T19:22:00.000-07:00

It was the 13 and overs turn to take to the pool and they each had some very good swims. Jared was very strong in the 100 free and 100 fly, posting times of 57.8 in the 100 free and 1:04.6 in the 100 fly, both large improvements over his last meet. Andrea Gilbert had a good 200 free and 200 back but her best swim of the night was her 100 free. 1:02.0 in the event is her second best time ever for the 100 free. Kirsten Rowbotham was good once again as well. Not a best time in the 100 free but a 2:41.7 in the 200 back and 2:21.9 in the 200 free put her in the top 8 in both events. Jessica Harris had a very good 100 free (1:09.2) and 200 Back (2:51.7) while Marisa Gorjeu also swam well, posting a time of 1:11.7 in the 100 fly. The swim of the night, however, went to Jane Pomeroy who became the second Killer Whale of the day to qualify for AAA's for the first time. Jane's time of 1:06.2 surpasses the standard of 1:06.6 needed to qualify for the meet. Congratulations Jane and congratulations to all the Killer Whales on an excellent 13th place overall finish at the meet, especially considering they only swam 4 out of the 5 sessions!!! See you all tomorrow!

Sunday 12 and Unders

2006-05-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

A couple new qualifiers highlighted our morning as the 12 and Unders took to the pool for their last session. Entering the session in 13th place out of 42 teams, the young guns were able to move up to 10th place going into tonights session of the 13 and overs.

Jennifer Guindon, 11, was able to qualify for her very first AAA provincial championships with a very well swum 1:33.11 in the girls 100 breaststroke. She beat the standard of 1:33.65 to qualify for the July meet. After missing his first Age Group National Qualifying time in the 400 yesterday by only .05 of a second, Alec Page was once again fighting for a qualifying time for the Calgary meet and this time the luck was on his side. Fighting stroke for stroke with a swimmer form Seattle, Alec settled for second but qualified for the Canadian Club Nationals with a time of 2:17.20 in the 200 freestyle, matching the qualifying standard. Congratulations to both these swimmers.

Taylor Padington placed 9th in the girls 200 fly with a 3:19 to start the individual events. Jennifer had a strong 50 backstroke next, while the 50 fly's saw Morgan, Deirdre and Karlyn all swim best times. Carter placed 15th in the boys event with a 38.7.

Morgan and Deirdre placed 9th and 14th respectively in the girls 200 Backstroke with excellent swims and fast times. The boys event saw 4 Killer Whales in the top 16. Alec was 3rd, Carter 9th, Tylor Love 11th and David John Palmer 13th.

Karlyn and Marissa B had good 100 freestyles, improving their seed times while on the boys side it was David John who snuck into the points with a 16th place in the 100 freestyle.

The 100 breast saw Jennifer in the top 16 while Karlyn swam another best time in 1:49. Tylor placed 9th in the boys event while in the 200 freestyle, we saw Deirdre Huestis as the top Killer Whale in 16th while on the boys side, Alec was second and Carter was 11th.

2006-05-20T23:00:00.000-07:00

Jared, seen here swimming in lane three in the long blue suit, had a pretty good 50 freestyle today, posting a 26.8 which is close to his best LC time. He was able to battle some other very good swimmers to outtouch his competitors.

2006-05-20T22:51:00.000-07:00

Marisa Gorjeu, down in lane 1, had a strong 50 freestyle earlier today. Her time of 31.6 was a best LC time and was very well swum.

2006-05-20T22:44:00.000-07:00

Andrea bangs out a very strong in season 50 freestyle with a 28.5, good enough for second place overall. At the bottom of the screen in lane 1, swimming in the fastest heat she did a lot of damage moving up the rankings all the way to second.

2006-05-20T22:36:00.000-07:00

Here's another 50 freestyle starring David John Palmer (lane 6) and Tylor Love (lane 4). David John wins the inter-club dual with a 33.2 while Tylor swims a 33.3.

2006-05-20T22:25:00.000-07:00

Here's Deirdre's 50 freestyle out in lane 8, at the top of your screen. Right on her best time, she was able to beat some faster seeded swimmers in the middle of the pool.

2006-05-20T22:12:00.000-07:00

Here's Jen's 50 Breaststroke from this mornings events. She's at the bottom of your screen, in lane 1.

13 and Overs on Saturday

2006-05-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

Great start by the 13 - 14 girls 200 Medley Relay, placing 3rd tonight. Jessica Harris (36.7), Kirsten Rowbotham (35.6), Marisa Gorjeu (31.5) and Jane Pomeroy (31.3) teamed up for the impressive result and the club record with a time of 2:15.10.

Jared switched last minute from the 400 IM to the 200 Fly and put in a great race, splitting close to his best time in 1:07.7 and finishing with the 7th best time in 2:31. 100 Breast was not quite as impressive for us. Kirsten Rowbotham placed highest in third but her time of 1:20.6 was off her best time of 1:18.8 from Victoria last month. Andrea Gilbert put an exclamation point on her 50 freestyle with a 28.5, placing 2nd. She then followed that up with a 1:11.3 in the 100 back, placing 3rd in that event. Both were exceptional early season results for Andrea. Jessica had a great 100 back going 1:19 while both Marisa and Kirsten had best LC times, Marisa with a 1:18 and Kirsten with a 1:14.9. Video's will be posted later tonight.

Numero Uno

2006-05-20T14:39:00.001-07:00

Well, it was a grrrrr-eat! start to day one as the 12&under girls started us off with the medley relay. Leading off was MorganHealy-Backstroke-39.3, DeirdreHuestis-Breastroke-40.1, TaylorPadington-Butterfly-40.0, and JennGuindon-Freestyle-33.5 with a final time of 2:33.0, pretty good job there girls=) Next off was the 12&under Boys DavidPalmer-Backstroke-41.4, TylorLove-Breastroke-45.0, AlecPage-Butterfly-30.9, and CarterGorjeu-Freestlye-32.4 with a final time of 2:29.7...Good swim boys=)

100 Fly was our first event and there were some great swims - especially the guys. Carter had a big best time with a 1:25.44, placing 15th while Alec Page crushed his best time and the club record with a hard fought victory with a 1:10.72. Next up was the 50 breaststroke and Jennfier Guindon's time of 43.6 was a very good swim for her. On the boys side, Tylor Love placed 7th with a 42.1 in the same event.

50 Free saw a great swim from Karlyn Healy (36.6) while David John Palmer and Tylor Love posted best times in the 50 freestyle with 33.2 and 33.3 respectively. 200 Breast came next and Morgan Healy and Deirdre Huestis placed 7th and 5th respectively with excellent swims (3:07.2 for Deirdre and 3:10.4 for Morgan). Alec placed 2nd in the event with a 3:08 while Jennifer Guindon placed 17th with a best time (3:24).

Finally it was the 100 back and the 400 IM to finish things off. While we didn't have a lot of swimmers in the 100 back, the swims we had were pretty good. Taylor Padington had a best time (1:24.7) in the event. 400 IM was where we were most impressive today. Alec Page highlighted the morning with a 5:33.35, only .05 seconds from his first Age Group National Standard, which he hopes to achieve tomorrow in the 200 freestyle. Carter Gorjeu placed 5th and David John Palmer placed 7th in the same event. For the girls, it was Morgan Healy swimming a 6:08.5 for a 9th place finish while Deirdre Huestis placed 14th. More results and some videos to follow tonight.

Day 1???

2006-05-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

Well, the Killer Whales learned first hand why the Washington State Government is spending so much money updating and widening the I-5 Freeway through Washington!!! Traffic was unbelievable - so much so that we missed our 400 freestyles tonight. Oops. After a spirited warm up tonight at the pool, we are on our way back to the hotel and then off to see game one of a three game series between the Mariners and the San Diego Padres, starting at 7:05. Remember that the game is being televised on channel 26 so someone please set the recorder and maybe we'll be on TV!!!

More info tomorrow.

Pacific Coast Invitational - Federal Way

2006-05-16T20:41:00.000-07:00

Real Time results can be found for the upcoming meet in Federal Way by clicking here. The meet starts Friday afternoon with all 18 swimmers from CRKW racing the 400 freestyle, followed by the Mariners vs. Padres in Seattle.

Island LC Invitational - By Kirsten and Marisa!!!

2006-04-21T20:30:00.000-07:00

Kirsten Says: Well, today was a great day, we had Jared-2:09.0, Brock-2:07.9, Jessica-2:33.9 and Marisa-2:24.9 started us off with great swims in the 200m Freestyle. Marisa Says: Soon following we had the 100m breaststroke Kirsten 1:19.0 (very excellent!) Jane 1:30.5 , Jared 1:23. Brock 1:15.5,Carly 1:32.9, these swims were all very well done :) and they carried us on to the the next event -200m fly Kirsten says: The 200m Butterfly was the next event in which we had some pretty good races then, Marisa-2:47.7 with a 2:42.0 in finals, however, getting disqualified. It was still a very, very, good race. And to all you younger swimmers out there, remember to two hand touch when swimming fly! ;) Brock went 2:24.9 with a 2:22.1 in finals. Great job Brock! Great job everyone!! =) Marisa Says: 50m free was next. Jessica Harris swam her 50 free and achieved a 31.69 . Shortly after Jess swam in a swim off for 10th place (second alternate), The race wa29s close but her competer won although she lost:( she recieved a best time of 31.03 :) good try jess! A reminder to all you mini whales out there always win swim offs :) Kirsten swam and went a 29.3 in finals she went A 29.7 good job kirst ;) Andrea went 33.o in heats this morning this was a best time way to go andrea :) Carly 32.5 this was fairly close to her best ever long course time :) Tyson 27.2 (best time) Ricardo 30.4 ( best time) Jane 31.4 (best time) Jared 26.7 this morning and 26.5 in finals tonight. Kirsten Says:The next and final event was the 800/1500m Free. Marisa started us off with the 800m and went a 10:16.2, taking 39 seconds off of her previous time. (freaking awesome) Brock then swam the 1500 and came out with a 18:13.2, taking 19 seconds. (also freaking awesome) Nicole finished us off with a 800m going 11:09.1, taking 7 seconds off her best time. (also very awesome) Well that's the end of day 1 and the end of a great start. Stay tuned for tomorrows results! Congratulations everyone for a great first day and Good Luck tomorrow!=)

Final Day of Western Canadian Nationals

2006-02-19T16:50:00.000-08:00

The final day of Western Canadian Nationals has come and gone and what a day it was. Andrea started us off with a best time in the 200 Freestyle with a very gutsy 2:14.2. She has been sick all weekend and swam a very tough race, taking it out in 1:02.8 at the 100. Brock and Kirsten were up next with their 100 breaststrokes and Kirsten was able to qualify 10th with a 1:16.6, just over her best time. Brock delivered with a 1:09.50 and was 8th. That is...tied for 8th! A SWIM OFF!!! I'll get to that later.

Brock still had some unfinished business in the boys 400 IM and, in true Brock fashion, took the race out hard and finished just as hard, demolishing his best time with a 4:57.35 for his first time under 5:00. An hour after that...it was swim off time. Brock raced Michael Lai from Hyack and it was a dog fight all the way. Tied at each wall, it came down to the touch and in the end, it was Lai with the touch, 1:09.03 to 1:09.04!!! Brock would have to settle for 9th and a spot in the B final.

In the finals, Kirsten was up first and what a swim! Out in 35.63, she held on for a hard fought win in the B final with a 1:15.98. A gutsy performance on the National stage. And...on her birthday!!! Congratulations and Happy Birthday Kirsten!!! Brock was up next and had to try to match his amazing performances so far this weekend. His split time of 32.96 was the same as his swim off split and in the end he would have to settle for 3rd in the B final with a 1:09.07, an amazing feat for having swum the race three times in the same day plus a 400 IM to boot.

All in all, a 30 point performance for our club, putting us in the top 40 teams. We had more finals than ever before. Congratulations to Andrea, Kirsten and Brock for representing CRKW so well in Winnipeg.

Day Three at Western Canadian Nationals

2006-02-18T17:01:00.000-08:00

The weather isn't cooperating much in Winnipeg as it's still pretty cold outside - but things are heating up a bit in the pool here at the Western National Championships. Brock Hoyt was the story of the day, swimming a 200 Breast preliminary time of 2:29.78 which was good enough for 7th place overall and earned him a spot in the A Final of the event. In finals, he was able to knock another 2+ seconds from his time and finish with a time of 2:27.51, placing 7th overall for the team's best result of the championships so far.

In preliminary action, Kirsten Rowbotham was a little off form and placed 19th in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:47.07. Sbe was, however, able to bounce back with a very strong 100 freestyle in 1:03.07. Andrea Gilbert swam her best time this season in the 100 freestyle with a time of 1:02.23.

The meet concludes tomorrow with Brock swimming 100 Breast and 400 IM, Kirsten swimming 100 Breast and Andrea swimming 200 Freestyle.

Western Canadian National Championships

2006-02-17T17:26:00.000-08:00

You know how sometimes you go outside and you say, "wow, it sure is cold?" Well, I don't know if any of the swimmers here at Canadian Nationals in Winnipeg will be saying that in Campbell River any time soon. Last night...-45 with the windchill. Enough said!

After two days here in Winnipeg, Andrea, Kirsten and Brock are swimming GREAT!!! Brock was 32.5 in the 50 breaststroke and 2:19.1 in the 200 IM. His 50 breaststroke was good enough for 14th and his 200 IM was 20th overall, excellent results for his first ever National Competition. Kirsten had a best time in the 50 breaststroke on Thursday (35.92), good enough for 17th and her second best time ever in the 50 freestyle (29.06). Andrea has had three excellent swims, scoring our first points of the meet with a 31.5 in the 50 backstroke on Thursday and then following that up with best times in the 50 freestyle (27.41) and 100 Backstroke (1:07.82). All three swims, along with Kirsten's 50 breaststroke make four new Club Records for the swimmers already, with two days of competition to go.

Andrea will compete in the 100 freestyle tomorrow while Kirsten will swim the 200 Breast and the 100 free. Brock will be looking to crack the top 16 in the boys 200 Breaststroke. Live results can be found by going to www.crkw.ca and following the links.

Day 1 of VIR Champs - WOW!

2006-01-20T22:39:00.000-08:00

If the first day of VIR Champs in Comox is any indication of the rest of the meet - then the rest of the Province and, for that matter, the country had better watch out.

Morgan Healy and Marisa Gorjeu, 12 and 13 respectively, qualified to represent CRKW at the Canadian Age Group Nationals in Calgary this July with their results in the 1500 freestyle today. Gorjeu was first to make the cut, with a time of 19:15.5, almost a minute better than her best time and over 20 seconds under the cut, was very impressive the whole way through the race. Not to be outdone, Healy followed her friend and teammate with a time of 20:30.5 to qualify in the 12 year old girls age group, making the cut by over 10 seconds.

Other fantastic results from the day, in order of their occurance, were Andrea Gilberts silver medal performance in the girls 15 and over 50 freestyle, Kirsten Rowbotham's gold medal performance in the 13 - 14 girls 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:16.5, Carly Papagiannis' 7th place finish in the 15 and over girls 100 breaststroke, Brock Hoyt's silver medal in the boys 15 and over 100 breast in a time of 1:10.2, David John Palmer's 8th place in the 11-12 boys 200 IM and then...the distance events. In the 12 and under girls, Morgan Healy was a medalist, along with Marisa Gorjeu in the 13-14 age group and Andrea Gilbert, Nicole Dawson and Carly Papagiannis sweeping the medals in the 15 and over age group. In the 800 free, Brock Hoyt was a medalist in the 15 and over boys age group.

More swimming to follow in the next couple days. Stay tuned for results.

Swimming World Says Goodbye to Coach Chris Givens

2005-12-30T10:45:00.000-08:00

On December 23rd my friend and mentor, Chris Givens was admitted to a Portland area hospital where they discovered a tear in the tissue surrounding his aorta. He died the next day of an Aortic Aneurism.

Coach Chris, as we all called him, was one the finest people I ever met. He taught me a tremendous amount about coaching and life. He had a degree in child psychology so I was able to learn a tremendous amount about kids as people and relate that to my coaching.

Coach Chris coached a tremendous number of excellent swimmers over the course of his career but the one thing he will be remembered for by them all was that he cared deeply for all of them.

Coach Chris Givens will be missed terribly by all who knew him. My thoughts go out to his wife Celeste and his daughters Belle and Kiana.

Day Three Finals

2005-12-12T10:27:00.000-08:00

The last night of swimming was very exciting. It started off with a very spirited swim from Alec Page in the 400 free, slicing another three seconds from his time with a 4:54.7 for a commanding win in the event. After the 400 free, it was the breaststrokers turn and, after an average swim of 2:51.4 in the prelims in the 200 breaststroke, Kirsten Rowbotham turned it on in finals with a 2:47.0 and her second Western National Qualifying time of the season. Alec Page and Carter Gorjeu followed that with best times in the final of the 12 and under boys 200 Breast, finishing 4th and 6th respectively. Brock Hoyt followed that up with a third place finish in the boys 200 Breast, equalling his excellent swim in the morning. Finally, the 100 Backstrokes and Andrea Gilberts very strong 1:09.9 for her best time this season and a 4th place finish in the final. Our last swims of the night were Alec and Carter again and they ended up in 3rd and 6th place in the final. Gorjeu broke club records in every event he swam Sunday and Kirsten Rowbotham and Jocelyn Cormier both chipped in with one each in the 200 Breaststroke.

Day Three Preliminaries

2005-12-11T16:44:00.000-08:00

Day Three saw some very exciting events for the Killer Whales. It started with Alec Page swimming the 400 free under 5:00 for the first time with a 4:57. Then Brock Hoyt finally made his first ever Western National Qualifying Time with a 2:30.3 in the 200 Breast, beating the standard by over 2 seconds. Then Taylor Padington made her first ever AAA time for 12 and Under Girls with an 11:11.2 clocking in the girls 800 Freestyle. Finals go tonight with Alec Page looking to win his second event of the weekend in the 4oo, Kirsten Rowbotham will try to add another Western Canadian Qualifying time in the 200 Breast. Carter Gorjeu and Alec Page will do battle with each other in the 200 Breast and 100 Back while Andrea Gilbert looks to improve her ranking in the girls 100 Backstroke.

Day Two Finals - Day Three Preliminaries

2005-12-11T16:39:00.000-08:00

Day Two finals were very good once again for the Killer Whales. Andrea Gilbert started the night with a 200 backstroke swim off. She lost but was able to swim a time of 2:29.7 for her first time under 2:30 and a new club record in the event. Alec Page was a winner in the 12 and under boys 100 fly with a time of 1:12.3 and improved his time in the 100 breast with a 1:28.0 clocking for fourth place. Carter Gorjeu was in both of those finals as well, improving his time in the 100 fly from the preliminaries. Kirsten Rowbotham wasn't able to better her time from the morning but was good enough for fourth with a 1:19.1. Amberle Bakker was 8th in 1:22.9 in the same final. Brock Hoyt was 1:10.5 in the 100 breaststroke for an best time but was four tenths slower than the Western Canadian Standard. He will go for it on Sunday.

Arrival Time for Team Travel

2005-12-11T16:37:00.000-08:00

Swimmers will be arriving in Campbell River between 9:30 and 10:30 pm. Swimmers will be dropped off at their homes between these times.

Day 2 Preliminaries

2005-12-10T18:57:00.000-08:00

Day two was a very good day for us at the Christmas Cracker. Morgan Healy swam in the very first heat of 400 IM and posted a 6:10.9 to qualify in 6th place for tonights final. Kirsten Rowbotham swam her 100 breaststroke in 1:18.41, narrowly eclipsing the Western Canadian Championships standard of 1:18.43 and qualifies to swim at the Western National Swimming Championships in Winnipeg this February. Carter Gorjeu, 10, also qualified to swim the 100 breast final and made his very first AAA time for 11-12 boys in the event. Later that day he clocked a time of 22:07 in his first 1500 freestyle, qualifying in that event as well. Joining Gorjeu in the final is Alec Page. Page and Gorjeu will also team up in the boys 100 fly where Gorjeu is entered into the final in first place. Brock Hoyt is also in the final of the boys 15 and over 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:10.9. He needs to swim the event under 1:10.1 to make his very first Western Canadian Championship Qualifying time in the finals tonight.

Day 1 Finals - Christmas Cracker

2005-12-10T10:13:00.000-08:00

What a great night! To start things off, Carter Gorjeu, who was alternate in both the 200 free and 200 IM, got a chance to swim both because of a late scratch of a sick swimmer. Carter was able to place 7th in the 200 free and 8th in the 200 IM, swimming the IM in 2:58 for his first time under 3:00 and the swim of the night, voted on by his fellow teammates.

Alec Page was our other finalist last night and placed 2nd in the 200 IM with a time of 2:39, his first time under 2:40. Another excellent swim.

Last night Kirsten Rowbotham broke her very first 13 - 14 girls club record with a clocking of 36.43 in the girls 50 breaststroke. Jared Calder broke 26 in the 50 free for the first time with a time of 25.79 and Brock Hoyt had a very strong swim in the 5o breaststroke with a 33.03 clocking.

Other great swims last night included Marisa Gorjeu's 50 breaststroke (40.2) and two more club records for Carter Gorjeu, pushing his total for the weekend to 6. More results to follow.

Day 1 Preliminaries

2005-12-09T16:51:00.000-08:00

The first morning of swimming saw some strong swims from a number of Killer Whales. Aside from the number of amazing time improvements, Alec Page managed to qualify in second spot going into tonight's finals in the boys 200 I'm while two 10 and Under club records wasn't enough to qualify Carter Gorjeu in the 12 and Under 200 Free and IM finals as he finished 9th in both.

Jocelyn Cormier joined Gorjeu as CRKW's 10 and Under AAA qualifiers making the standard with a 3:08 in the 200 IM. Kirsten Rowbotham made another AAA time with a 2:36 clocking in the 200 IM.

Team Pick Up

2005-11-13T20:07:00.000-08:00

Pick up for swimmers travelling with the team should be picked up at Strathcona Gardens Pool at 9:50 pm.

Island Pacific Cup Report

2005-11-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

After two and a half days, the Killer Whales are making quite a splash at the Island Pacific Cup swim meet in Victoria. Marisa Gorjeu, in her last meet as a 12 year old, has been the busiest of all the competitors with finals in all of her events. She was 5th in the 200 fly finals on Friday night as well as 5th in the 200 free and 200 IM. Brock Hoyt and Alec Page have also been busy in the finals as well.

Live results can be found here.

http://www.islandswimming.com/live/

http://www.islandswimming.com/jamboree/

Three Killer Whales Headed to Finals on Day 1 of Island Cup

2005-11-11T17:06:00.000-08:00

Alec Page, Marisa Gorjeu and Brock Hoyt all made it through the preliminaries into the finals on day 1. Page will be the busiest of them with three finals, including going into the boys 200 fly final in second place. Gorjeun fresh off of an amazing 800 free in the heats (10:10.2) seeks out top placings in the 200 free and 200 fly while Hoyt will seek to improve his placing from 7th in the 100 breaststroke. Other results from the morning included new AAA times from Morgan Healy and Deirdre Huestis.

Great Advice from Richard Quick

2005-11-03T08:55:00.000-08:00

The way swimming coach Richard Quick sees it, it's simple: Setting goals is one thing, but determining the right goals for yourself takes a little more careful thought.
Quick, who will retire at the end of this summer's season as head coach of the women's swim team at Stanford, has coached 12 National Collegiate Athletic Association swimming teams to titles, more than any other coach in history. To help his swimmers maximize their abilities, Quick helps each one establish goals that are attainable for that person.
"To me, a goal is what you are going to accomplish," Quick said in a recent telephone interview. "It's not what you hope you can accomplish, or wish you could do, or what you dream about."
Quick says unrealistic goal setting won't get you anywhere.
"I want the goal to be something that you absolutely are going to do, and therefore it changes everything about you," Quick, 62, said. "It changes the way you think. It changes the way you prepare and train. It changes the way you handle yourself in and outside of the pool."
Quick says an unreachable goal, or one that skips too many steps in between, doesn't trigger change in people because deep down they don't believe they can do it.
Once one goal is reached, Quick encourages another in the same spirit. "My job as a coach is to sell somebody on the idea that they're better than they think they are," he said.
All the while he makes sure the goal is what the person wants.
"The goal has to be your goal," he said. "Yes, it does have to be attainable, but it can't be what I think you can do. It's not what your parents think you can do. It's not what your teammates need you to do. It's none of those things. It's your goal. If it's my goal (or someone else's), then they don't have responsibility for it."
In addition to his collegiate success, which spans 29 years, Quick was the head U.S. Olympic swimming coach in 1988. In 1996 and 2000, he led the women's U.S. Olympic swim teams. Quick's teams won a combined 59 Olympic medals. His record 12 national titles, all with his women's teams, include five in a row at Stanford (1992-96) and at Texas (1984-88). Quick has coached 41 NCAA champions to a combined 63 national individual titles and 29 NCAA relay crowns.
Quick was the NCAA Coach of the Year five times, and his overall record in dual meets is 212-39 for a winning percentage of .845.
"Richard is probably the most passionate man about swimming that I have ever met," said Tara Kirk, the 2003-04 Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and a 2004 Olympian.
Be Consistent
While a few people in athletics and other walks of life have such overwhelming talent that they begin with a natural advantage over others, Quick believes the great equalizer is consistency.
"It's something we talk about all the time. It's so simple, it's basic," Quick said. "Small steps taken consistently will eventually get to the end of the trip, or move you along in your journey. Work consistently toward those goals through the temporary setbacks and plateaus that you inevitably are going to have."
Little things done well over and over are far more important than spectacular achievement done every once in a while, Quick adds.
Quick always looks for ways to give lift his athletes. He introduced Pilates training before it became standard for swim teams.
"Richard wants to leave no stone unturned," Kirk said. "He's always changing things around, always trying to be innovative, always trying to be on the cutting edge of swimming."
For Quick, taking a personal interest in his athletes as people has always come naturally. It's a practice he recommends for others who are in management positions.
"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care," Quick said. "I think it's important if you're going to be a leader, to really care about your people as people first, and athletes or workers secondly. People will perform better for you."
Quick's attitude seems to resonate with his swimmers. Shelly Ripple, a 23-time Stanford swimming All-American, said in the school's media guide, "He inspires me not only by his attitude and enthusiasm on a daily basis, but also by the sincere belief he showed in every one of his swimmers."
The same things that keep Quick hungry as a coach helped him get to the top in the first place.
"Every day that I go to the pool to train an athlete and I see dreams in their eyes, that's what drives me," he said. "I really want to be a partner with them so that they can live the dreams of their life, both athletically and every other way."
Dana Kirk, a 2004 Olympian and nine-time All-American, applauds Quick's respect for swimmers. "I don't think I would have made the Olympic team if it had not been for Richard telling me every day to believe that I belonged on that team," Kirk said in the media guide.
The Best Policy
When it comes to recruiting athletes, Quick strives to give potential recruits a clear idea of what they can expect at Stanford in terms of swimming and academics. "Integrity and honesty in recruiting is a real important thing," he said.
He looks for athletes who are positive and enhance their teammates rather than drain energy from them due to selfishness. Self-centered athletes, Quick said, "can't score enough points at meets to make up for what they're taking away pointwise from all the other team members. The main rule that I would have is you can't consistently detract from the team effort, regardless of how good an athlete you are."
Reaching the top of his field and tasting victory haven't changed Quick's perspective on what he regards as the big picture:
"Swimming fast, winning championships, winning gold medals, I really don't think any of that is important unless in the process of the journey to those high goals you learn principles and values that are going to help you have a better world for yourself and have a better world for (other people)," he said.

2005-11-02T20:18:00.000-08:00

The fastest team there and now the loudest team there. Check out this great team cheer from the TYEE all level meet this past weekend.

Pick up time for Killer Whales

2005-10-30T14:16:00.000-08:00

Please note the team bus will be arriving into Campbell River at 6:00 pm at the Budget rental office on the corner of Erickson and old Island Highway.

First All Level Meet of Season goes this Weekend

2005-10-29T06:19:00.000-07:00

The first meet for the "big kids" goes this weekend at the Crystal Pool in Victoria. 31 swimmers from Campbell River will compete at the meet. Check here for updates and results from the weekends action.

CRKW Youngsters Awesome in Meet Debut's

2005-10-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

Seven young members of the Killer Whales Swim Club competed in Ladysmith this past weekend at the first progressive meet of the season. With all of them competing for the Killer Whales for the very first time, they were all outstanding in their efforts and their results.

Every swimmer on the team was able to place in the top 10 at least once, which is quite the feat considering that the meet was run with boys and girls combined for all events. Mackenzie Padington was a first place finisher in the mixed 25 breaststroke with a time of 37.06. At 6 years old she was one of the youngest competitors at the meet but swam an excellent race nonetheless. Nadia Gilson was also able to manage a top 3 finish with a third place finish in the 25 breaststroke making CRKW a 1-3 finisher in the event.

Kylie Modras and Birklee Landels, both in their first year of competitive swimming had excellent showings with two top 10 finishes each. Modras was able to place 6th in the 25 breast and 7th in the 25 free while Landels placed 7th in the 25 breaststroke and 8th in the 25 free.

Kevin Monk placed 9th in the 25 breaststroke and had excellent freestyle and backstroke swims at the meet while Nolan Stuart had a great 5th place finish in the 25 butterfly, showing excellent technique.
CRKW next competes in the TYEE All Level meet and then in Victoria and Port Alberni as well as at home in Campbell River in November.

New UBC Pool Site - 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships

2005-10-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

Ottawa, ON - Construction begins this month on a new University of British Columbia pool facility, that will be the site of the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.

The outdoor pool will be a ten-lane, 50-meter pool will replace the current 55-yard, six-lane outdoor pool that was originally built for the 1954 British Empire Games. The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships (Pan Pacs) will be held from August 17 to 20, 2006 and mark the first major international competition to be held at the facility. In addition to 1,000 participants, officials and coaching staff, the event will draw 8,000 spectators and over 1.5 million viewers around the world through its international broadcast reach. Following Pan Pacs, UBC will use the pool to serve its students and residents of UBC’s emerging University Town community, and to support its world-class varsity swim program.

This will be the first major international swimming competition to be held on Canada’s west coast since the Commonwealth Games in 1994. Over 400 of the world’s top swimmers will be in attendance. Canadian Olympians and 2005 World Championship medalists Rick Say, Brent Hayden, and Brittany Reimer will join international stars such as USA’s Michael Phelps, Amanda Beard as well as Australia’s Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett.

‘The new UBC Pool represents a very important legacy for Canadian swimming, states Dan Thompson, President, SNC. ‘The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships will provide us with an exceptional opportunity to enhance our competitiveness and generate greater support for our athletes.’

The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is renowned as one of the most exciting competitive swimming events in the world. Canada is a founding member among four charter nations, including Australia, Japan and the United States, which launched this competition in 1983 to rival competitions in the European nations.

"This new outdoor pool will support our exceptional varsity swimming program, and have a positive and lasting impact on our community and the province as a premier recreation and performance centre, "says Brian Sullivan, Vice President, Students, UBC. "We look forward to working with Swimming Canada to inaugurate this facility and create a highly successful Pan Pacific Games that advances Canada's competitive swim program."