Competing in its first meet of the season, the Bow Valley Riptides swim club found a few more fast laps in its soon to be former home.
The 32-member, rookie-laden team challenged clubs from across the province and carried off plenty of medals, led by a young group of promising female swimmers, on Saturday (Oct. 27) at the Canmore Rec Centre.
“The group of girls did very well. We had good relay teams in the 11-12 age group. There’s a lot of potential with those girls coming up,” said head coach Don Tremblay.
Camryn Gooch, Miriam Griesser, Amanda Graham and Avery Spence finished second in the 200 metre freestyle relay, and the girls also grabbed silver and bronze at the 9-10 200 m relay as well. Avi Lamb, Emily Titus, Ryan Gooch and Kassandra Shepherd brought home silver, while Aydan Bartlett, Cassidy Behm, Tanzin King and Ava Treutler took home the bronze.
“Avi has been good. She’s been swimming with the club since she was five and she’s coming along very well,” Tremblay said.
Tremblay said he wanted to see a strong kick to the line from his team, so they finished strong.
“Especially in the second half of the race, we want to see them bring it home with the legs,” Tremblay said.
The boys also had great results, led by Neo Gleason, who qualified for the provincials in several more distances.
“The boys did very well. Neo got a few more age times for his group to qualify for provincials. Alex Neilson did very well. He dropped all his times. He went from bottom of the pack to top three.”
Neilson and Gleason led the boys 200 m freestyle relay. Joined by Sean and Aidan Parker, they took gold in their division.
Looking at the team as a whole, Tremblay said the club is swimming in the right direction.
“We had six more swimmers than last year in the meet. The club is growing in a good way. Every year we have more swimmers,” Tremblay said.
For full results, visit www.riptides.ca
