KISU’s largest contingent ever at Canadian Age Group Nationals Swimming Championship in Calgary July 27 to Aug.1 won 20 medals.
The team also placed 14th out of 115 teams, while the men and women’s teams placed 13th.
“I’m very proud of all that we accomplished at this meet, not only the medal winners and second swims, but the team work, courage and guts that were shown by all the KISU swimmers here,” wrote KISU coach Tina Hoeben on the club’s Facebook page.
Representing KISU were Acacia Benn, Marlee Caruso, Justin Fotherby, Elijah Kliever, Samuel Lasinski, Jaren Lefranc, Samuel Matthew, Ashley McMillan, Evan Peters, Anna Spence, Riley Wall, Tyler Wall and Mackenzie Wallich.
Medal results are as follows:
Acacia Benn — bronze 200-metre backstroke, silver in the 100-m backstroke and silver in the five-km open water swim.
Elijah Kliever — bronze in the 100-m backstroke.
Jaren Lefranc — bronze in the 50-m breaststroke, bronze in the 100-m breaststroke and bronze in the 200-m breaststroke.
Ashley McMillan — gold in the 400-m IM, 800-m freestyle, 200-m IM, as well as silver in the 1,500-m freestyle, and bronze in the 100-m breaststroke, 200-m freestyle, 400-m freestyle and 2.5-km open water swim.
Tyler Wall — gold in the 100-m backstroke, silver in the 200-m backstroke, 50-m freestyle and bronze in the 200-m IM as well as 400-m relay with Lefranc, Samuel Lasinski and Riley Wall.
After winning bronze in the 200-m freestyle, McMillan said, “Not bad for my bonus swim,” she was quoted on the Facebook page.
Hoeben, currently in Edmonton with Lefranc and Lasinski for one last meet, wrote about a another big night for the club. She said McMillan was on fire earning another cowboy hat for her win in the 200 IM and bronze in the 400-m free. Swimmers received cowboys hats for events won.
“I’m so proud of all that Ashley has accomplished at this meet,” said Hoeben. “She has shown amazing grit and tenacity. The same goes for Acacia Benn. She swam a tough 200 IM and came in fourth next to some of the fastest girls in the country.
“AGN is a tough meet and the Calgary pool is not known for its speed,” continued Hoeben. “I’ve talked to a few other coaches about it and haven’t come up with a concrete answer as to why, but times were not fast. KISU swimmers did a great job with this tough situation.”