Staff
Three Aquanauts represented the local club at the Island Long Course Invitational in Victoria, B.C. over the weekend.
Donovan Taylor, Jillian Gustafson, and Katja Sutherland all competed in a variety of events, with their results as follows (* denotes personal best time):
•Donovan Taylor (14)—50m back (31:04, 2nd), 50m fly (28:46*, 1st), 200m back (2:24:12, 4th), 200m free (2:12:38, 6th), 100m fly (1:04:14, 2nd), 50m free (27:03, 2nd), 200m IM (2:24:82, 3rd), 100m back (1:06:86, 2nd), and 100m free (57:77*, 2nd);
•Jillian Gustafson (14)—100m back (1:21:39, 13th), 200m back (2:48:67*, 16th), 50m fly (42:06, 19th), 400m free (5:33:77, 20th), 50m back (38:70, 9th), and 50m breast (47:35, 17th); and
•Katja Sutherland (13)—100m breast (1:33:87, 18th), 200m breast (3:14:06*, 13th), 50m fly (43:19*, 20th), 50m back (40:62*, 14th), and 50m breast (42:49*, 11th).
“Everyone came back with personal bests, so it was definitely worth going out there,” Aquanauts’ coach Dawnn Taylor said.
“There was the odd stinker, but these swimmers know when they don’t have their best swim, learn from it, and don’t let it ruin the rest of their races,” she added.
Taylor said her son was just gassed in his 200-metre free.
“We’ve done this many [races] at a meet before, but not over such a short amount of time in a different time zone,” she noted.
“We’re happy with the way things are going, but we’re going to get him in with a personal trainer at Energy Fitness and get him whipped into shape some more.
“He and Katja will be doing laps in the mornings now because our swim club wraps up [tomorrow].”
The trio also met and had their picture taken with Canadian swimmer Ryan Cochrane, who won a bronze medal in the 1,500m freestyle at the Beijing Olympics last year.
Donovan Taylor and Sutherland will be attending the Manitoba/Saskatchewan provincials in early July, while Taylor also has qualified for the nationals in Montreal in mid-July.
Meanwhile, a group of six Aquanauts, including Sutherland, Anika Beaudry, Mitch Riordon, Krista Emond, Andre Emond, and Levi Rittau, will be in Thunder Bay this weekend for the Thunderbolts Invitational, which signals the end of the competitive swim season for the majority of the team.
