By Eliza McGuire, Revelstoke Aquaducks
The Revelstoke Aqaducks swam a strong meet in Salmon Arm this past weekend. 35 athletes attended the competition, which was one of the last meets before Okanagan regional championships in three weeks, and served as a tune-up for the Ducks.
Division 1 Girls Norah Painter and Monica Parkin combined to cut more than three minutes off their personal bests over all six of their races, and both girls demonstrated this new speed on their relays.
The Ducks also broke both club and meet records this weekend: Beth Granstrom broke the Division 5 Girls 200 metre individual medley meet record while bettering her own club record. James Lebuke broke the meet record in the 200 metre individual medley, while Ryder Litke broke the 100 metre individual medley meet record for Division 1 Boys.
Entering the Salmon Arm meet, the only club record for Division 1 Boys that did not belong to Ryder Litke was the 100 metre freestyle. Leaving Salmon Arm, all the club records for Division 1 Boys now belong to Ryder Litke.
Earning aggregate victories this meet for the Ducks were Division 1 Girl Autumn Griffith-Doyle. Division 1 Boys was a sweep for Revelstoke, with William Hobgood winning bronze, Bence Berkenbosch winning silver, and Ryder Litke the gold.
Division 2 Girls had Sani Supinen winning gold while Kale Jay won silver for the boys.
Division 3 Girl Megan Hoshizaki picked up a bronze aggregate for her gutsy swims this weekend, and Alex Jay took the gold for the boys side.
Division 4 Boy James Lebuke won gold, as did Division 5 Boy Jackson Litke and Division 5 Girl Beth Granstrom, both of whom won all six of their events.
With more than 300 athletes in attendance, the Ducks had their work cut out for them in the team event. Both the Salmon Arm Sockeyes and the Kelowna Ogopogos had twice as many swimmers in attendance as the Ducks. However, when it came down to team scores, the Ducks were second to the Sockeyes in all three categories, besting the Ogopogos by more than 1,000 points. A large reason for this was the relay section of the meet, which was, for the third time this year, completely without disqualifications throughout the meet. The Revelstoke Aquaducks are the only team to achieve this even once this season, never mind three times.
The Ducks travel to Penticton next weekend for their last meet in the Okanagan before Regionals in Kamloops.