It’s been a fantastic few weeks so far for the Kootenay Swim Club. It started with Morgan Robertson-Weir and Stevenson McCulloch getting their regional standard in the 200 IM at the Fernie Invitational.
Together with Evelyne Upward, Kieron Sorenson, Georgia and Abi Anderson, the Kootenay team achieved 30 best times and took off over 300 seconds between all swimmers at Fernie. On the other side of the province, in Victoria, Kelsey Andrusak and Samuel Matthew achieved their age group national standards in four events combined, Andrusak achieving her age group national in the 50 and 100 breaststroke, and Matthew in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Just this past weekend at the Kelowna Long Course Invitational, Robertson-Weir, Andrusak, McCulloch, and Matthew represented the Kootenay region in fine form.
With Matthew and Andrusak leading the high points category for their age group and achieving final swims at night which placed them either first or in the top three overall, Robertson-Weir and McCulloch showed that they were fit to stand up and race at a regional level throughout the meet, achieving top finishes in their heats and even getting a second swim at finals for McCulloch in the 200 fly.
The highlight of the Kelowna meet goes to Andrusak for qualifying for age group nationals in Quebec City this summer. She’s the first Kootenay swimmer in the club’s five year history to qualify nationally.
She qualified in three events; 50 free, 50 breast, and 100 breast, and will have the opportunity to race against the best swimmers in her age range from across the country.
As though it couldn’t get any better, club records were broken over the weekend and many more are set to fall as the Kootenay Swim Club prepares for their final meet of the season in Wenatchee, Wash., May 29 to 31.