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Aquanauts ready for regionals

Twenty-three swimmers from Agassiz Harrison Aquanauts attended the Abbotsford swim meet this weekend.

Twenty-three swimmers from Agassiz Harrison Aquanauts attended the Abbotsford swim meet this weekend. Even though summer is only half over this is the last swim meet before the Regional Championships which will occur in two weeks in Abbotsford. Local coaches are pushing the swimmers hard in the lead up to Regionals. This meet came midway through a training cycle that saw some  swimmers daily swimming up to 5 km of training in the pool. Summer club swimmers qualify for Provincials by being in the top 3 of each event at Regionals. So there is no saving up a good swim as a way to qualify; having a top 3 swim in your age category on the day at Regionals is the only way to make it to the provincial championships in Victoria in later August.

The weather added to the competition drama this weekend: rain, wind, sun and even a 25 minute delay while a lightning storm kept everyone out of the pool. Freestyle is a fast event , without much time for breathing. Jaydin Lees, Randolph McInroy came third and Nashon Douglas came first. If they do this again at regionals they will be off to provincials. Anton Stoeckly and Amarri Reynen were close behind in 4th.  Hebrina McInroy came 5th and Taylor Lees came 8th. Strategy changes a bit when you go the slightly longer 100 free. AHA swimmers did great in this event with 3 swimmers (Randolph, Jaydin and Nashon) coming in 2nd.  Amarri came 3rd, Taylor and Nicola (James) came 5th and Anton came 7th.

Butterfly can be a very dramatic swim to watch especially in the highest division. Timing is everything and it can take awhile to master going fast without running out of energy.  Nashon and Sydney (one of our coaches) had a great first place finishes in 50 fly. Bentley McMullin came 3rd. Dana Stoeckly and Taylor came so close to the coveted top 3 with respectable 4th place finishes. Hebrina came 6th, Nicola  came 7th and Brooklyn McMullin came 8th.

Breast and backstroke can calmer events at times, especially breaststroke which can look smooth and effortless. Randolph had another 1st place finish in his 50 breast. Several swimmers entered the 100 breast and did very well. Jaydin came in 2nd and Hebrina came in 3rd. Anton and Justine Stoeckly came in 4th, Taylor came 5th and Katelyn Gafka came 6th. In back stroke, Jordan Torok and Jaydin came 2nd in 100 back,  Dana came 4th and Amarri came 6th in 50 back.

When you put all 4 strokes together it is known as the individual medley. Randolph came 3rd in his 100 IM and Anton came 5th in 200 IM. Randolf and Jaydin came in the top 3 for all 4 of their events. Nashon was not far behind with 3 top 3 finishes. Dana and Anton are not far behind with 2 4th place finishes. Also Nicola James had an impressive 5 new best times in Abbotsford.