The Penticton Secondary School Lakers are turning into a provincial powerhouse in the swimming pool, with the girls team winning AA provincials for the second year in a row.
The girls team dominated in the water earning 310 points. Their next nearest competitor was Lord Byng with 180 points. The Lakers boys also fared well, earning second place in the province.
“I’m very proud of how well our swimmers did. There are lots of schools that have one or two fast swimmers, but Pen High has worked really hard to have depth,” said Tina Hoeben, volunteer coach.
Lakers not only took medals as teammates in the relays, but also had first and second place finishes in individual races.
“Our swimmers really stepped up for the relays, for their team mates and for their school. There were some really impressive swims. I’m also proud that we went first and second in three individual events … There were lots of other impressive results in individual and relay swims. These are only a few highlights,” said Hoeben.
Top three final finishes for the team:
Girls 200 relay - third (Marlee Caruso, Lindsay Spear, Mackenzie Wallich and Haley Berrisford)
Boys 50 m freestyle - first — Tyler Wall, second — Laurenz Weber
Girls 100 m backstroke - second — Acacia Benn
Girls 400 m freestyle - second (Wallich, Annalise Spence, Berrisford, Benn)
Boys 400 m freestyle - first (Xelian Louw, Justin Fotherby, Weber, Wall)
Boys 100 m freestyle - first — Wall, second — Weber
Boys 100 m butterfly - first — Louw
Girls 200 m IM - first — Ashley McMillan, second — Benn
Boys 200 m IM - second — Louw
Girls 200 m freestyle - third (Benn, Berrisford, Caruso, Alice Wang)
200 m freestyle - first (Louw, Elijah Kliever, Weber, Wall)
* Also swimming for the Lakers, were Emmy Caruso, Issabella Cumming, Ben Davidson, Diego Sanchez, Travis Kascak, Chelsea Keeler, Ian Markus, Jack McLennan, Vanessa McLennan, Myah Nackoney, Ben Say, Kristen Vandeweghe and Bryce Doroshiuk.
Similkameen swimmers make a splash at provincials
For the first time in 16 years, a new provincial banner will be on display at Similkameen Elementary Secondary School.
Kelly Vesper, coach of the swim team at the school, said the screams coming from the bus were deafening when the team realized that the girls had won the Single A provincial banner over the weekend. The boys team placed third in provincials with just two members.
“Acoustics on the pool deck make it really hard to hear. Half-way through the day, we knew we were in second place. It was really hard to know who we were trying to beat so I told the girls every point counts — put it all out there. The day was over, and I sent the team to get their stuff back on the bus. I had sent all the kids back and then I was given the banner. I tried to hide it, but they saw it when I was putting my luggage in the bus,” Vesper said. “The bus was screaming — there was a lot of screaming and they were all pretty excited.”
— With files from Tara Bowie/Black Press