Staff
A trio of Fort Frances Aquanauts had a standout weekend Feb. 3-4 at the Northwestern Ontario LC Championship hosted by the Thunder Bay Thunderbolts.
Jacy Gagne claimed gold in the female age 15-and-older 50m breaststroke (40.08) and also nabbed bronze in the 100m breaststroke (1:30.75).
Ayiana Gagne earned bronze in each of the female age 13-14 200m free (2:29.31), 400m free (5:12.90), and 200m back (2:47.44).
Connor Sandelovich, meanwhile, took bronze in each of the male age nine-10 50m free (40.56), 100m free (1:28.90), and 200m free (3:25.36).
Piper Danylchuk and Anna Gagne also competed in Thunder Bay but didn’t make the podium in any of their races.
“The five-member team that went did great,” enthused coach Dawnn Taylor.
“They were without their coach and still all posted personal bests.
“That says a lot for their knowledge of the sport and how they handle themselves as athletes,” she remarked.
“I am very proud.”
Taylor also noted her swimmers now are in the long-course season, so they “need to work on swimming longer distances to simulate a 50-metre pool [and] we adjust our workouts to reflect that aspect.”
The local Cyclone swim club also was invited to the meet but didn’t have any swimmers attend.
Up next for both clubs will be the Dryden Dolphins’ Splash meet set for Feb. 24-25.
Taylor said she will have four swimmers going to Dryden, then five will compete at a qualifier in Winnipeg the following weekend.
