Debbie Murray wasn’t asking for the moon, but she was happy with what she saw in the Starz.
The Fort Frances Cyclones coach and seven of her troops were brothers and sisters in arms with three other regional clubs as part of the Northwestern Ontario Starz squad that competed at the Division II swimming championships in Thunder Bay on April 25-27.
The locals were grouped with the Goldfins (Red Lake), Nakokita (Atikokan), and Narwhals (Thunder Bay) as part of the Starz for this meet because of the small number of swimmers from each individual club.
“The team spirit was just great,” said Murray, who served as an assistant coach for the Starz. “The kids had so much fun mixing with the kids from the other teams that were part of their group.
“There’s great benefits to getting feedback from four different coaches, as well, to improve your swimming,” she added.
All seven Cyclones set personal bests in almost every event at Division II, and Murray noted how far her swimmers in the first-year club had come in terms of being able to handle the rigours and requirements of competition.
“The kids went to the box prepared, a little nervous, but they swam their hearts out,” she said. “No coach can ask for more.”
< *c>Aquanauts on course
For the 23-member contingent from the Fort Frances Aquanauts, the Division II meet in Thunder Bay served as a breeding ground not only for personal bests, but also a potent potpourri of medals, club records, provincial qualifications, and even a provincial record.
Alex Parent celebrated his selection to the Canadian national disabled swim team by setting a new Ontario standard for the fifth time this season.
He beat the old mark for the 200-m freestyle with a time of 2:19.63—shattering his previous best by almost three seconds.
“When we started this year, the goals for Alex were to break provincial records,” said Aquanauts head coach Roman Ramirez. “He said it was going to be hard, but I told him he had the qualities to do it.
“Three or four months ago, I told him he could get on the national team,” added Ramirez. “He said he wanted to try. I’m really happy for him.”
Karli McKinnon and Jeff Plumridge also got in on the Aquanauts’ record-breaking action that weekend.
McKinnon broke her own club standard in the female 13-14 400-m freestyle event while Plumridge, who competed at the Division II meet after swimming with the Guelph Gryphons university squad this past season, erased his own mark from the books in the 15-and over 100-m breaststroke and the 200-m breaststroke.
McKinnon and Boyd Badiuk also joined teammates Heather and Rachel Dutton in posting qualifying times for the junior provincial long-course championships coming up in July.
Rachel Dutton had a terrific outing, medalling in all six of her events in Thunder Bay, including three golds. Badiuk added the Aquanauts’ other medal with a bronze in the 200-m I.M., while nine Aquanauts placed in the top 10 of their respective events.
But in Ramirez’s eyes, group performance far outweighed individual accomplishments.
“We discussed that it was more important to focus on the team’s results than what any one person did, and everyone agreed with that,” he said.
The Aquanauts will host a regional meet this weekend featuring 116 swimmers from eight teams, including the Cyclones, that will see the combining of competitive and pre-competitive events.
The Aquanauts then will head to Thunder Bay for another invitational the following weekend.
Here are the results from the Division II meet April 25-27 in Thunder Bay (* denotes personal best time):
< *c>Cyclones
•Donovan Taylor, 8—50m back (*46.63, 14th), 200m IM (*4:04.34, 14th), 50m fly (*55.27, 20th), 100m back (*1:48.13, 20th), 50m free (*39.96, 21st), and 100m free (*1:40.79, 28th)
•Karrah Ogden, 9—50m back (*52.45, 20th), 50m fly (*59.63, 20th), 100m free (*1:50.23, 20th), 100m back (*1:51.93, 21st), 50m free (*42.83, 22nd), and 50m breast (DQ)
•Emily Shoemaker, 9—50m breast (1:28.38, 21st), 50m back (*1:11.13, 26th), 50m free (*53.91, 27th), and 100m free (DQ)
•Connor Crook, 10—50m breast (*51.99, 7th), 100m breast (*1:52.99, 8th), 50m fly (*58.12, 21st), 50m free (*41.56, 27th), and 100m free (*1:41.25, 29th)
•Daniel Murray, 10—50m breast (*53.07, 9th), 100m breast (*1:55.49, 10th), 50m back (1:07.44, 27th), 100m free (*2:10.57, 32nd), and 50m free (*54.94, 35th)
•Peter Jensen, 11—200m breast (*4:18.27, 17th), 50m free (*34.81, 18th), 100m breast (*1:50.62, 19th), 100m back (1:36.49, 19th), 200m IM (*3:42.72, 20th), and 100m free (*1:29.50, 25th)
•Keegan Little, 12—200m breast (*3:35.03, 12th), 100m breast (*1:41.10, 14th), 100m back (*1:46.18, 24th), 200m free (*3:16.01, 27th), 100m free (*1:32.40, 27th), and 50m free (*37.75, 28th)
< *c>Aquanauts
•Andre Emond, 8—50m breast (*1:19.00, 18th), 100m back (1:50.50, 21st), 50m back (*50.81, 22nd), 50m fly (1:00.61, 22nd), 100m free (*1:45.51, 31st), and 50m free (*43.64, 34th)
•Jillian Gustafson, 8—100m free (1:47.62, 19th), 100m breast (*2:11.55, 20th), 50m breast (*1:02.13, 20th), 100m back (*1:53.65, 22nd), 50m back (57.07, 24th), and 50m free (*48.13, 26th)
•Donovan Cousineau, 9—200m free (*3:01.46, 8th), 100m free (*1:24.77, 9th), 100m back (*1:37.28, 10th), 100m fly (1:56.15, 13th), 50m fly (*52.37, 16th), and 50m free (*40.81, 25th)
•Krista Emond, 9—100m free (*1:34.74, 11th), 50m free (*40.86, 15th), 50m fly (54.77, 17th), 200m free (*2:46.82, 18th), 100m back (*1:45.76, 18th), and 50m back (52.75, 21st)
•Jessica Lowey, 9—100m free (1:25.15, 6th), 100m breast (1:45.30, 7th), 50m free (*38.13, 9th), 50m breast (49.54, 9th), 200m free (3:05.53, 11th), and 50m fly (*49.05, 11th)
•Rebecca Armit, 10—50m breast (*53.66, 15th), 100m free (*1:37.02, 15th), 100m breast (*1:59.91, 16th), 50m free (*42.16, 21st), 50m back (*53.31, 22nd), and 200m free (3:35.57, 24th)
•Heidi Emond, 11—200m breast (*4:06.67, 36th), 100m back (*1:53.68, 44th), 100m breast (*1:55.24, 48th), 200m free (3:39.16, 50th), 100m free (*1:38.27, 55th), and 50m free (*42.36, 66th)
•Jamie Holliday, 11—100m breast (*1:46.21, 40th), 200m free (*3:10.71, 44th), 200m IM (3:36.81, 46th), 100m free (*1:28.09, 48th), 50m free (*38.83, 60th), and 100m back (DQ)
•Jade Morrison, 11—200m free (*3:03.83, 39th), 200m IM (*3:34.96, 44th), 100m free (*1:25.91, 45th), 100m breast (1:54.28, 46th), 50m free (39.47, 62nd), and 100m back (DQ)
•Jessica Cousineau, 12—800m free (11:06.89, 6th), 400m free (5:25.72, 7th), 200m free (*2:35.04, 9th), 200m IM (2:56.43, 12th), 100m fly (*1:27.72, 18th), and 100m free (1:14.82, 22nd)
•Rachel Dutton, 12—400m free (5:00.13, 1st), 200m free (*2:25.22, 1st), 800m free (10:28.32, 1st), 50m free (*30.44, 2nd), 200 IM (*2:50.30, 2nd), and 100m free (1:07.27, 2nd)
•Nicole Fontana, 12—200m free (*2:46.82, 26th), 200m back (*3:12.49, 26th), 100m back (1:30.88, 33rd), 200m IM (*3:14.83, 34th), 100m free (*1:19.25, 35th), and 50m free (*34.96, 40th)
•Nicole Lowey, 12—200m breast (3:24.14, 15th), 100m breast (1:35.32, 18th), 200m free (2:53.84, 35th), 200m IM (3:20.84, 39th), 100m free (1:21.71, 41st), and 50m free (35.57, 44th)
•Laurel Perrott, 12—100m fly (*1:37.55, 26th), 200m breast (3:43.03, 31st), 200m free (*2:55.10, 36th), 100m breast (1:48.63, 43rd), and 50m free (38.99, 61st)
•Megan Wihnan, 12—800m free (12:08.24, 12th), 200m free (*2:45.00, 24th), 100m back (*1:28.10, 28th), 100m free (*1:16.08, 28th), 200m IM (*3:12.35, 29th), and 100m breast (*1:41.58, 33rd)
•Jennifer Hawley, 13—400m ((6:11.02, 14th), 100m fly (*1:24.24, 22nd), 100m back (1:26.43, 30th), 200m IM (2:58.03, 32nd), 50m free (33.12, 34th), and 100m free (1:11.67, 36th)
•Alex Parent, 13—100m fly (*1:15.81, 10th), 200m free (*2:19.93, 13th), 100m free (*1:04.93, 17th), 200m IM (*2:48.11, 18th), 50m free (30.62, 21st), and 100m back (1:19.29, 21st)
•Kyle Perrott, 13—200m breast (*3:09.76, 11th), 100m breast (*1:29.25, 15th), 400m free (*5:26.60, 18th), 200m free (*2:32.26, 21st), 50m free (*31.19, 24th), and 100m free (*1:08.74, 24th)
•Boyd Badiuk, 14—200m IM (*2:34.26, 3rd), 100m back (*1:10.11, 5th), 100m fly (*1:10.78, 6th), 50m free (*27.69, 6th), 100m free (*1:03.26, 7th), and 200m back (2:30.38, 9th)
•Kenneth Kellar, 14—100m fly (*1:26.19, 13th), 200m IM (*2:59.25, 21st), 200m free (*2:35.24, 23rd), 50m free (*31.31, 25th), 100m back (*1:27.65, 26th), and 100m free (*1:10.42, 26th)
•Karli McKinnon, 14—100m free (*1:04.39, 4th), 400m free (*4:57.22, 5th), 200m free (*2:21.18, 5th), 200m back (*2:40.01, 6th), 50m free (*29.81, 6th), and 100m back (1:12.56, 9th)
•Heather Dutton, 16—100m fly (*1:12.33, 6th), 400m free (*5:02.65, 8th), 200m IM (*2:41.68, 8th), 800m free (10:08.78, 8th), 200m free (2:18.04, 11th), and 100m free (1:03.69, 12th)
•Jeff Plumridge, 20—100m breast (1:12.96, 5th), 200m breast (2:44.13, 7th), 50m free (26.53, 14th), 200m free (2:21.28, 16th), 200m IM (2:36.77, 21st), and 100m free (1:02.36, 24th)
Fort Frances Times
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