Aquanauts smash club records at Winnipeg meet

The Aquanauts continue to excel in the pool this season, with five more club records smashed at the Manitoba/Saskatchewan Open short course provincial swim meet last weekend in Winnipeg.
Karli McKinnon, 10, led the way with three new club records in her age group, including a time of 3:04.69 in the 200m backstroke event en route to a third-place finish.
McKinnon broke her own club record of 3:05.64 she had set just the weekend before at the Northwest regional championships here.
But she also smashed club records for her age club in the 100m free (1:14.63) and 50m backstroke (41.33) to finish fourth and fifth respectively in those races.
Head coach Debbie Murray had nothing but high praise for her young swimmer, who came home from Winnipeg with four bronze medals, four fourth-place finishes, and a fifth.
“I would say it was phenomenal in that she broke three club records,” she enthused, adding McKinnon has a shot at breaking three more club records by season’s end.
“She is so dedicated and she understands goal-setting. She has done very well,” Murray noted. “She has such a natural feel for the water and a feel for what she’s doing.”
Meanwhile, Aquanaut Brendan Cumming, 16, broke a club record for his age group in the 50m breast stroke with a time of 38.81 seconds only to see his cousin, Jeff Plumridge, also 16, break it in the very next heat with a 33.92.
Plumridge also placed fourth in the consolation of the 50m fly event.
“The boys seem to challenge each other on a regular basis and both swam very well,” said Murray of their performance. “Jeff was able to watch the clock and beat [the time] in the next race.”
Murray said all seven of her swimmers who made the trip to Winnipeg, which also included Andrea Boileau, Steven Gushulak, Sarah McTavish, and Gavin Paull (Amanda Allan did not go due to a bout with the ’flu), all did very well there.
Gushulak placed sixth in the 50m free and seventh in the 200m back in his age group while Paull placed sixth in the consolation of the 50m back in his division.
The Man./Sask. meet has high qualifying times, with many of the top swimmers there moving on to compete at the national level. More than 300 swimmers from 30 teams from across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Northwestern Ontario competed.
Meanwhile, Murray feels her swimmers are peaking at this stage of the season.
“I think the swimmers are all focused at this time of the year, and they all did very well accepting the challenge after competing here last weekend,” said Murray.
“I think by attending a meet like this with the high-level of competition, it pushes them to drive forward,” she added.
Most of the Aquanauts will be back in the water later this month at a spring meet in Atikokan, then several will travel to Calgary for a meet in late April.
There’s also a meet in Thunder Bay on the last weekend of May.