Roman Ramirez got a look at the future last weekend—and the view was brimming with promise.
The head coach of the Fort Frances Aquanauts fielded 33 competitors, including 25 who were classified as “non-competitive,” as the squad hosted its spring swim meet involving eight teams within the region, including the local Cyclones.
While it was another strong showing for his competitive contingent, it was the collective performance of his newcomers that had Ramirez already looking forward to next short-course season.
“The swimmers were fast with good technique,” he remarked. “They really knew what they were doing.
“This is like a test for them as next year, some of them will be moving up to join the competitive team,” he added. “I’m really happy with how they did.”
Ramirez directed most of the credit to assistant coach Ashleigh Dutton, who mainly oversees the younger swimmers’ development.
“I have to give thanks and congratulations to Ashleigh for doing such a great job,” lauded Ramirez. “Ninety percent of their performance is her work. I’m really impressed with how she had them ready for this meet.”
Meanwhile, Dutton’s younger sister, Heather, was the highlight performer in the Aquanauts’ competitive ranks as her time of 2:36.79 in the 200m butterfly made her the fourth Aquanaut to qualify for the junior provincial long-course championships in Brantford next month.
Heather will join sibling Rachel Dutton, Karli McKinnon, and Boyd Badiuk there—another sign of the team’s superior achievements this season.
“It has been a long time since this team sent anyone to junior provincials, and now this year we have four going to short-course and four going to long-course,” said Ramirez.
(Short-course involves swimming in a 25-m pool—like the one at the Memorial Sports Centre here—while long-course meets are held in 50-m pools).
Last weekend’s meet here featured a mixed format, with swimmers of different ages and genders racing against each other at the same time.
Ramirez liked the developmental aspect of the meet, with many of those competing taking their first crack at particular events they normally would not take part in.
The Aquanauts now have two weeks to adjust their mindset back to long-course racing as a potential group of 15 will head to Thunder Bay for the International Invitational on May 24-25, where some U.S. racers will make the trek north to try their hand against their Canadian counterparts.
“It shouldn’t be that difficult for them to change back to a long-course style of racing,” said Ramirez. “They know how to adapt to the pace they need for the longer pool.
“We’ll spend this week analyzing how they feel and how they did here, and what they have to correct,” here added.
Here are the individual Aquanaut results from last weekend’s meet (* denotes personal best time):
Bryson Skirton, 7—25m back (*22.63, 1st), 25m free (*22.28, 3rd), and 25m breast (*41.13, 5th)
Jillian Gustafson, 8—100m back (1:53.67, 3rd), 200m free (*3:54.34, 3rd), 50m back (*52.30, 5th), 50m breast (1:07.15, 5th), 50m free (*46.75, 8th), and 100m free (*1:45.09, 8th)
Andre Emond, 8—50m breast (*1:09.95, 3rd), 100m free (*1:42.74, 4th), 50m fly (1:03.51, 4th), 50m free (44.88, 5th), 50m back (51.78, 6th), and 100m back (1:53.33, 6th)
Kaela Lowey, 8—25m breast (*29.07, 2nd), 25m free (*24.24, 4th), and 25m back (*27.25, 6th)
Robert Stevens, 9—25m free (*22.10, 1st), 25m fly (*32.84, 2nd), 25m back (*26.63, 3rd), and 25m breast (*38.77, 3rd)
Serena Stromberg, 9—25m free (*23.39, 2nd), 25m fly (*32.13, 3rd), 25m back (*26.11, 4th), and 25m breast (*35.38, 5th)
Caitlin Sande, 9—25m fly (*30.66, 1st), 25m free (*21.47, 1st), 25m back (*24.83, 2nd), and 25m breast (*32.63, 3rd)
Krista Emond, 9—50m back (*49.14, 2nd), 200m IM (*3:52.14, 3rd), 50m breast (1:00.68, 4th), 50m free (42.31, 4th), 50m fly (55.93, 4th), and 100m free (1:36.46, 5th)
Donovan Cousineau, 9—100m fly (*1:50.08, 1st), 200m fly (*4:01.45, 1st), 100m free (1:30.27, 1st), 200m IM (*3:27.55, 1st), 100m back (*1:36.60, 1st), and 50m free (*39.31, 2nd)
Jacob Hawley, 9—50m breast (*1:07.09, 2nd), 50m back (*51.61, 5th), 100m back (*1:55.28, 7th), 100m free (*1:56.30, 9th), 50m free (*50.89, 9th), and 50m fly (DQ)
Jessica Lowey, 9—100m breast (*1:42.57, 1st), 100m free (*1:21.06, 1st), 50m breast (*48.27, 1st), 200m IM (3:23.68, 1st), 200m breast (*3:42.99, 1st), and 50m fly (*47.87, 2nd)
Rebecca Armit, 10—200m free (3:45.90, 1st), 50m free (*40.25, 1st), 50m breast (1:00.32, 3rd), 100m breast (2:02.04, 4th), 100m free (1:41.03, 7th), and 50m fly (DQ)
Christopher Allan, 10—25m back (*27.30, 4th), 25m free (*28.93, 7th), and 25m breast (DQ)
Jamie Holliday, 11—50m breast (*48.11, 6th), 50m back (*46.41, 8th), 200m free (*3:07.08, 9th), 100m free (*1:24.77, 14th), 50m free (*38.34, 15th), and 50m fly (*53.99, 15th)
Jade Morrison, 11—50m fly (*42.45, 5th), 50m back (*46.38, 7th), 50m breast (*53.34, 8th), 200m free (3:10.37, 11th), 50m free (*37.50, 13th), and 100m free (*1:24.79, 15th)
Heidi Emond, 11—200m breast (*4:03.22, 5th), 50m breast (1:02.09, 9th), 50m back (*48.88, 10th), 100m breast (1:59.00, 14th), 200m free (3:45.66, 15th), and 50m free (45.58, 20th)
Nicole Fontana, 12—200m free (2:54.32, 6th), 200m IM (3:16.12, 7th), 50m fly (*44.09, 7th), and 50m free (35.03, 8th)
Nicole Lowey, 12—200m breast (3:27.85, 2nd), 50m breast (44.58, 2nd), 100m breast (1:36.09, 7th), 50m fly (*46.46, 9th), 50m free (36.51, 10th), and 100m free (1:22.55, 13th)
Megan Ossachuk, 12—50m back (*47.03, 9th), 50m breast (1:07.36, 10th), 50m fly (*52.74, 14th), 50m free (*41.45, 19th), 100m free (1:36.74, 21st), and 100m back (DQ)
Jessica Cousineau, 12—100m back (*1:23.93, 1st), 50m back (*39.04, 1st), 200m free (2:35.60, 2nd), 100m free (*1:12.36, 3rd), 100m fly (1:29.17, 3rd), and 200m IM (2:58.43, 3rd),
Megan Wihnan, 12—50m back (*39.35, 2nd), 200m IM (*3:10.78, 4th), 200m free (2:48.32, 5th), 50m free (*35.02, 7th), 100m free (1:16.56, 8th), and 100m breast (1:44.08, 12th)
Laurel Perrott, 12—200m breast (3:43.46, 4th), 200m IM (*3:14.61, 6th), 50m breast (*48.93, 7th), 100m fly (1:42.33, 7th), 100m free (*1:19.39, 9th), and 50m free (*36.28, 9th)
Jennifer Hawley, 13—50m back (*38.43, 3rd), 50m fly (37.76, 3rd), 100m fly (1:26.97, 3rd), 100m free (1:11.46, 4th), 200m IM (2:52.48, 4th), and 50m free (32.55, 5th)
Rachel Dutton, 13—50m back (*37.67, 2nd), 100m free (1:07.84, 2nd), 100m fly (1:19.14, 2nd), 50m free (31.31, 2nd), 50m fly (35.58, 2nd), and 200m IM (2:49.97, 3rd)
Jennifer Jonassen, 13—100m back (2:10.03, 5th), 50 back (54.70, 7th), 100m free (*1:38.52, 10th), 50m free (*44.99, 10th), and 50m fly (53.95, 10th)
Kyle Perrott, 13—50m breast (*41.09, 1st), 100m breast (*1:26.44, 1st), 200m breast (*3:03.99, 1st), 200m free (*2:30.63, 3rd), 100m free (*1:08.35, 5th), and 50m free (*31.15, 9th)
Alex Parent, 13—200m free (2:23.60, 1st), 100m fly (1:17.86, 2nd), 100m back (*1:17.05, 2nd), 100m free (1:07.10, 3rd), 50m back (*36.89, 4th), and 50m free (*30.47, 7th)
Karli McKinnon, 14—100m free (1:02.72, 1st), 50m breast (*39.59, 1st), 100m fly (*1:14.80, 1st), 200m IM (2:38.81, 1st), 50m free (29.33, 1st), and 50m fly (33.44, 1st)
Kenneth Kellar, 14—50m fly (*35.07, 1st), 100m breast (*1:34.06, 4th), 200m IM (3:01.18, 5th), 50m free (*30.07, 5th), 100m fly (1:26.44, 6th), and 100m free (*1:09.56, 7th)
Boyd Badiuk, 14—100m back (*1;06.96, 1st), 50m back (*31.24, 1st), 100m free (*1:00.20, 1st), 100m fly (1:08.62, 1st), 200m back (*2:26.83, 1st), and 50m free (*26.80, 1st)
Heather Dutton, 16—200m fly (*2:36.79, 1st), 100m free (1:04.59, 1st), 100m fly (1:10.43, 1st), 200m IM (2:36.16, 1st), 50m free (29.60, 1st), and 50m fly (31.75, 1st)
Fort Frances Times
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