This could be the start of something great.
Last weekend’s spring swim meet hosted by the Fort Frances Aquanauts brought an end to the inaugural year of the local Cyclones club, whose ranks doubled over the course of the season to more than 40 swimmers—26 of whom saw action here.
Head coach Debbie Murray was pleased about the opportunity the meet gave her first-time competitors to get their feet wet—and said her squad already is champing at the bit for next season.
“They were very excited to race, and all of them are asking when’s the next time,” said Murray. “With continued practice and availability of pool hours, our swimmers will become as competitive as any swimmers in the region.
“Next year, we’re going to have the top 10-and-under boy, the top 11- to 12-year-old boy, and continued advancements in all age categories,” she added.
Assistant coach Ashley Barker agreed the improvement of the team during the season was remarkable.
“We’ve gone from swimmers able to do only half-a-length to competing in races and feeling good about themselves and wanting to progress more,” she said.
“We will still be here and still growing in years to come,” she enthused.
The Cyclones are somewhat of an aberration. In what is traditionally a more female-dominated sport, 70 percent of the squad is male.
Murray said while she looks for her own swimmers to make strides, she has ambitions for the sport on a wider scale.
“The goal should be to increase enrolment in our sport to provide more opportunities within our region for successful swimming,” she stressed.
Here are the individual Cyclone results from last weekend’s meet here (* denotes personal best time):
Savannah Hughes, 6—25m back (*37.02, 12th) and 25m free (*36.89, 13th)
Erin Gustafson, 6—25m back (*33.22, 10th) and 25m free (*32.70, 11th)
Christopher Jensen, 6—25m free (*31.28, 10th) and 25m back (*40.60, 12th)
Benjamin Whitburn, 6—25m free (*45.22, 13th) and 25m back (DQ)
Sarah Bagacki, 7—25m back (*26.73, 5th) and 25m free (*31.73, 10th)
Monty Visser, 7—25m free (*27.63, 6th) and 25m back (*31.00, 8th)
Maureen Gustafson, 8—25m free (*27.81, 8th) and 25m back (DQ)
Donovan Taylor, 8—200m IM (*3:51.12, 2nd), 100m breast (*2:12.53, 3rd), 50m back (*48.50, 4th), 100m back (1:49.74, 5th), 50m free (45.78, 6th), and 100m free (1:47.16, 7th)
Kennedy Kellar, 8—25m back (*31.02, 9th) and 25m free (*33.74, 12th) Michael Murphy, 8—25m back (*33.87, 11th) and 25m free (*32.82, 11th)
Emily Shoemaker, 9—50m breast (*1:31.32, 7th), 50m back (*1:12.17, 10th), and 50m free (*54.11, 12th)
Robin Simmons, 9—25m back (*29.73, 7th) and 25m free (*30.39, 8th)
Kaiya Sutherland, 10—25m back (*28.78, 7th) and 25m free (*28.59, 9th)
Marina Jewell, 10—100m back (2:00.88, 4th), 50m back (*52.88, 6th), 100m breast (2:24.23, 7th), 50m fly (1:07.98, 8th), 100m free (*1:51.70, 9th), and 50m free (47.72, 9th)
Connor Crook, 10—50m fly (1:00.71, 1st), 100m breast (*1:59.22, 1st), 50m back (*46.83, 2nd), 100m back (*1:49.02, 4th), 100m free (1:44.63, 5th), and 50m free (46.04, 7th)
Brett Jewell, 10—50m fly (*1:02.15, 2nd), 50m breast (*1:10.50, 4th), 50m back (59.12, 7th), 100m free (1:48.61, 8th), 100m back (*2;04.30, 8th), and 50m free (*48.17, 8th)
Daniel Murray, 10—50m breast (*56.11, 1st), 100m breast (*2:03.39, 2nd), 50m back (1:09.65, 8th), and 50m free (*54.62, 10th)
Matthew Kellar, 10—25m back (*32.75, 9th) and 25m free (*30.69, 9th)
Tera Boettcher, 11—25m back (*25.72, 1st), 25m free (*19.85, 1st), 25m breast (*36.45, 1st), and 25m fly (*31.24, 1st)
Casey Kerber, 11—50m fly (*59.60, 16th), 50m free (*39.69, 17th), 100m free (*1:36.88, 22nd), 50m breast (DQ), 50m back (DQ), and 100m back (DQ)
Peter Jensen, 11—50m back (*44.14, 1st), 100m breast (*1:51.09, 2nd), 50m free (*34.85, 2nd), 200m breast (*4:07.96, 2nd), 50m fly (*45.56, 2nd), and 100m free (*1:24.83, 3rd)
Jimmy Whitburn, 11—50m breast (*1:22.89, 1st), 50m back (*1:06.56, 2nd), 100m back (*2:27.68, 2nd), 50m free (*55.70, 3rd), 50m fly (*1:15.83, 3rd), and 100m free (*2:02.33, 4th)
Erik Gustafson, 11—25m fly (*27.31, 1st), 25m back (*22.98, 1st), and 25m free (*19.95, 2nd)
Keegan Little, 12—100m breast (DQ)
Kristine Kerber, 13—100m back (*1:35.43, 3rd), 50m back (*40.66, 4th), 50m breast (*47.27, 4th), 50m fly (*38.88, 4th), 50m free (*35.44, 7th), and 100m free (*1:21.36, 8th)
Kyle Kellar, 13—50m back (*53.84, 5th)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
