Staff
The Fort Frances Aquanauts came away from the 2017 Thunderbolts May Grand Prix in Thunder Bay over the weekend with nary a medal, but a 10th-place finish out of 17 teams with 34 points.
The 60-plus member Oakville Aquatic Club finished miles ahead of the field with a first-place total of 6,282–topping the runner-up Thunderbolts (2,000) by more than 4,200 points.
“In a field of very, very competitive swimmers, with teams all the way from Oakville to Minneapolis, we came back for finals every night and that’s pretty damn good for a small-town team,” lauded Aquanauts’ head coach Dawnn Taylor.
“The people down in those places like Oakville swim three to four times as many hours as we do,” she noted.
“I think our kids held up fantastic.”
The junior division swimmers among the eight-member Aquanaut contingent enjoyed the most success in Thunder Bay.
Anna Gagne took sixth in the female age 11-12 50m backstroke (39.10) while Connor Sandelovich matched that showing in the male 10-and-under 100m freestyle (1:35.87).
Siblings Chase and Madelynn Hoel of International Falls also took part in the junior category for the Aquanauts.
Chase’s best finish was 14th in the male age 11-12 50m back (41.79) and 200m back (3:15.58).
His seven-year-old sister was 39th in the female 10-and-under 100m back (2:40.29).
In the senior division, Ayiana Gagne came the closest of any older Aquanaut to making the top eight, with only a judgment call on her part keeping her ninth in the female age 13-14 200m breaststroke (3:15.44).
“Ayiana got placed in the ‘A’ final after the fact when one of the racers scratched,” Taylor explained.
“But she was already on the way home and I had already scratched her, and once you’ve done that, you can’t go back.”
Gagne’s sister, Jacy, claimed 15th spot in the female 15-and-over 100m breast (1:29.08).
Kianna Antonick was 29th in the female age 13-14 50m back (39.10) while Abby Douglas placed 33rd in the female 15-and-over 100m breast (1:54.79).
Taylor said the Aquanauts are considering whether to attend a meet in Sioux Falls, S.D. in July.
Meanwhile, six members will continue training throughout the summer leading up to the resumption of the regional swim meet season in the fall.
“We’ll also be looking at taking some swimmers to meets in B.C. and the U.S. to help get them to that next level,” noted Taylor.
