Aquanauts shine in Kenora

The Fort Frances Aquanauts shot out of the blocks in their first competitive swim meet of the season, dominating the field at the Kenora fall invitational over the weekend.
The Aquanauts posted first-place finishes in 32 of the 101 events in which the competed.
But what was perhaps more impressive were the number of personal best times—57 in all—achieved by local swimmers in Kenora.
First-year Aquanauts head coach Tristan Hutton was understandably thrilled with his team’s performance.
“I was very excited,” he enthused following practice Monday night.
“One of the goals of this meet was to try and get some personal bests and some good personal performances in, so that we could qualify for other meets and we qualified nine swimmers for Prairie Winter,” he added.
The Prairie Winter invitational meet is held annually in Winnipeg. Those wishing to attend must achieve certain benchmark standards during prior meets in order to qualify.
Hutton said one of the main factors contributing to the club’s success last weekend was their strong start to the competition.
“Right off the bat Friday night everybody did a best time,” he remarked. “It was a great start, and the swim team carried that momentum right into Saturday and Sunday.” While the vast majority of the Aquanauts posted great times, Donovan Taylor’s accomplishments were particularly impressive. He finished first, and posted personal best times, in all eight events in which he swam.
“One highlight was Donovan [Taylor], who won the 400m freestyle for his age group category,” Hutton said. “With that time, he’s fifth in Canada.”
Following the success of the Kenora meet, Hutton and the Aquanauts now will shift their focus to preparing for the Prairie Winter invitational in two weeks’ time.
“Right now we want to keep them on their stride and keep the momentum going,” Hutton noted. “This week we’ll be pushing it and next week we’ll slow down a bit and get them ready for Prairie Winter.
“For the people who didn’t qualify, we are going to look at little improvements that we can make,” he added.
Fitness will be a point of emphasis during Aquanauts’ practices as Hutton wants all his swimmers to be in top physical condition in time for their home meet—the Groundhog Invitational—on Feb. 2-4.
Here are the individual results from last weekend’s meet in Kenora:
•Christopher Allan (14)—200m IM (3:32.08, 3rd), 100m Back (1:35.53, 1st), 50m Free (36.13, 3rd), 50m Breast (53.04, 3rd), 200m Free (3:10.51, 2nd), 50m Back (40.29, 1st), 100m Free (1:24.13, 2nd), and 50m Fly (48.33, 2nd);
•Rachel Dutton (16)—400m Free (4:54.87, 2nd), 100m Back (1:14.72, 2nd), 50m Free (30.24, 1st), 100m Fly (1:15.35, 1st), 200m Free (2:31.98, 3rd), 800m Free (10:40.71, 2nd), 100m Free (1:06.29, 1st), and 100m Breast (scratched);
•Andre Emond (11)—400m Free (5:55.14, 3rd), 100m Back (1:30.57, 3rd), 50m Free (36.55, 5th), 50m Breast (54.29, 3rd), 200m Free (2:53.64, 3rd), 50m Back (42.81, 1st), 100m Free (1:18.11, 3rd), and 50m Fly (42.84, 2nd);
•Krista Emond (13)—400m Free (5:46.85, 3rd), 200m IM (3:19.04, 5th), 100m Back (1:27.32, 4th), 50m Free (34.53, 2nd), 200m Free (2:44.65, 5th), 800m Free (11:49.03, 2nd), 50m Back (41.53, 1st), and 100m Free (1:16.23, 5th);
•Jillian Gustafson (11)—400m Free (5:49.69, 5th), 100m Back (1:27.57, 2nd), 50m Free (34.66, 1st), 50m Breast (47.23, 2nd), 200m Free (2:52.33, 6th), 50m Back (41.57, 2nd), 100m Free (1:17.24, 5th), and 100m Breast (1:38.93, 1st);
•Jessica Lowey (13)—200m IM (2:55.77, 4th), 100m Back (1:24.70, 3rd), 50m Free (33.92, 1st), 50m Breast (42.09, 1st), 200m Breast (3:13.90, 1st), 200m Free (2:37.36, 4th), 100m Free (1:12.76, 4th), and 100m Breast (1:30.18, 1st);
•Kaela Lowey (11)—200m IM (3:25.03 DQ), 50m Free (40.14, 4th), 50m Breast (47.03, 1st), 200m Breast (3:37.12, 5th), 200m Free (3:12.20, 4th), 50m Back (45.29, 4th), 100m Free (1:26.63, 5th), and 100m Breast (1:40.45, 2nd);
•Nichole Lowey (15)—200m IM (2:41.59, 2nd), 50m Free (31.63, 3rd), 50m Breast (37.95, 1st), 200m Breast (2:56.99, 2nd), 200m Free (2:32.34, 4th), 800m Free (10:56.58, 3rd), 100m Free (1:09.30, 4th), and 100m Breast (1:23.81, 2nd);
•Caitlin Sande (12)—400m Free (5:41.11, 3rd), 100m Back (1:31.90, 6th), 50m Free (33.48, 3rd), 100m Fly (1:29.39, 2nd), 200m Free (2:44.18, 3rd), 800m Free (11:42.20, 1st), 100m Free (1:14.03, 5th), and 50m Fly (38.52, 1st);
•Adam Stromberg (eight)—50m Free (38.50, 1st), 50m Breast (58.66, 1st), 200m Free (3:35.14, 1st), 50m Back (DQ), 100m Free (1:36.79, 1st), and 50m Fly (59.99, 1st);
•Serena Stromberg (12)—200m IM (3:21.47, 4th), 100m Back (1:31.25, 5th), 50m Free (34.58, 4th), 200m Free (2:59.22, 1st), 50m Back (41.42, 1st), 100m Free (1:20.70, 8th), and 50m Fly (39.43, 2nd);
•Katja Sutherland (11)–400m Free (6:56.53, 13th), 100m Back (1:47.99, 5th), 50m Free (41.77, 7th), 50m Breast (51.83, 5th), 200m Free (3:25.47, 7th), 50m Back (49.56, 7th), 100m Free (1:31.02, 6th), and 100m Breast (1:50.40, 8th);
•Donovan Taylor (12)—400m Free (4:59.69, 1st), 200m IM (2:42.55, 1st), 400m IM (5:42.71, 1st), 100m Back (1:14.59, 1st), 200m Free (2:24.63, 1st), 200m Back (2:38.56, 1st), 100m Free (1:07.30, 1st), and 50m Fly (33.82, 1st);
•Female 200m Freestyle Relay (11-12)—Katja Sutherland, Jillian Gustafson, Caitlin Sande, and Serena Stromberg (2:28.89, 3rd); and
•Female 200m Medley Relay (11-12)—Jillian Gustafson, Kaela Lowey, Caitlin Sande, and Serena Stromberg (2:48.21, 2nd)