The Vernon Kokanee Swim Club kicked off the year on a strong note at the 2020 Kelowna AquaJets Snowfest invitational, as athletes set four new club records and qualified for high-level events in the near future.
Angel Loseth was dominant across a number of different strokes at the swim meet from Jan. 18-19. She secured gold in the 100 m free swim, the 50 m freestyle, the 100 m butterfly and 50 m backstroke. She added silver medals in the 100 and 200 m backstroke, and a bronze in the 50 m butterfly.
With her times of 28.91 in the 50 m freestyle and 1:10.71 in the 100 m backstroke, Loseth made her first two Speedo Western Championships time standards in the 13-year-old category, putting her in position to attend the Championships in Saskatoon from April 16-19.
Meanwhile, Gavin Johnson earned a gold medal in the 50 m breaststroke with a time of 37.23 and silver medal in the 200 m Freestyle with a time of 2:55.88.
On top of that, the 12-year-old swam two long-course club records in the 50 m and 200 m backstroke for his age group.
Another strong performance came from Liam Greenan, who won gold in the the 200 m backstroke with a time of 2:37.31, 200 m Breaststroke with a time of 2:43.25. The 13-year-old also earned silver in the 100 m and 50 m backstroke and the 50 m butterfly, and added a bronze medal in the 200 m individual medley.
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Also in the 13-year-old group was Nathan Campbell - who scored a bronze in the 100 m butterfly with his time of 1:19:44 - and Bella Nelson with her bronze-winning time of 3:05:00 in the 200 m butterfly.
In the men’s 16 and over group, Ludwig Kaftan also qualified for the 2020 Western Championships in the 50 m breaststroke, swimming a VKSC club record in the event.
Paul Tenbieg qualified for the BC Provincial Championships in the 200 m breaststroke. It’s the 17-year-old’s first time making the cut for the provincial meet, which takes place March 5-8 in Victoria.
In the 14/15 age group, Alexanne Lepage set a new club record in the girl’s 200 m freestyle with a time of 2:12:33 - this while winning a gold medal in individual medley and the 50 and 100 m freestyle. She added a silver in the 400 IM.
Ryan Murphy won himself gold medals in freestyle and backstroke while adding a silver and a bronze.
Jennifer Heffner took home a bronze medal in the 200 m backstroke with a time of 2:40:07.
On Feb. 8 the swimmers have their last chance to qualify for the Winter Age Group Championships - a provincial championships for U12 girls and U13 boys - which take place Feb. 21-23 in Vancouver. Johnson, Greenan, Kaelyn McIntyre and Hayden Molitwenik have already qualified.