By Eliza McGuire, Revelstoke Aquaducks
The Revelstoke Aquaducks summer swim club started its competitive season this past weekend by attending two meets. While half the team stayed within the region at the meet hosted by the Penticton Pikes, the other half went to the Kootenays where the Nelson Neptunes were hosting after a year hiatus due to a pool closure.
The Penticton meet saw many swimmers take off time and improve on personal bests, and as a result quite a few swimmers won aggregates. In Division 1, Kayln Gale won gold for the girls, and Ryder Litke, despite having to miss events at the end of the meet, won bronze for the boys.
In Division 3, all three swimmers from Revelstoke hit the overall podium to bring home aggregates. Jaclyn Elliott, the lone female in Division 3, won bronze and Alex Jay won gold for the boys. Caine McCabe took off time in every event to slingshot himself up the standings to his first ever aggregate when he won bronze.
In Division 4, Beth Granstrom and Jackson Litke picked up bronzes. Liam McCabe swam his way to a bronze aggregate to round out the meet. Despite modest numbers, overall the Ducks finished fourth, with the girl’s team placing third, and the boys fourth.
In Nelson, the Ducks were making their presence known with loud cheers and big swims despite their small numbers. Hitting the podium to win aggregates were coaches James Pilla and Emily Pfeiffer, and swimmers James LeBuke and Murdoch Tegart. Murdoch had to take off huge amounts of time to get on to the podium after a disqualification in the 50 meter butterfly, but his determination and hard work paid off.
Getting to enjoy a rare respite this next weekend, the Aquaducks will be back in action when the Merritt Otters host June 14-15. After a weekend of spectacular swimming in both Nelson and Penticton, many club records are holding on by a thread, including a few three decades old that are in danger of being taken down at the meet in Merritt.