Aquanaut head coach Debbie Murray called it one of their best performances ever at the Prairie Winter Invitational swim meet at the Pan Am Pool in Winnipeg over the weekend.
“It was excellent, it couldn’t have been any better,” she enthused yesterday afternoon. “There were lots of personal bests–a high percentage of personal bests.”
Some 16 Aquanauts of various ages took part in the three-day meet, which attracted the top 537 swimmers from 42 clubs in Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Minnesota, and even Barbados.
Leading the Aquanauts was Boyd Badiuk, 10, who came home with three silver medals and four bronze. He also broke the club record in the 200 IM for 10 and under–which had stood since 1983–by two full seconds.
Also turning in strong performances were Jeff Plumridge, Alex Parent, Alissa Holiday, and Karli McKinnon, Murray said.
With so many swimmers, coaches, and officials scurrying about, it can be intimidating for some of the younger swimmers attending their first meet of this magnitude.
But Murray said they tried to qualm some of those butterflies by getting out on the deck early before their races and by watching finals Friday.
“Sometimes it can be pretty intimidating for a swimmer with 75 metres of water in front of them,” she noted.
Meanwhile, Murray noted four of the club’s younger swimmers did well at a meet in Atikokan this past weekend.
And that’s good news for the Aquanauts as they prepare for a regional meet Jan. 28-30 in Balmertown.