Dan Falloon
Fort Frances Aquanaut Adam Stromberg had a solid showing at the annual Prairie Winter Invitational in Winnipeg over the weekend, notching a gold medal for the local swim club.
The 12-year-old’s golden showing came in the 50m free, which he won in a time of 28.74 seconds.
Stromberg also posted other fine showings, ending up fifth in the 200m free (2:31.02), sixth in the 200m breast (3:21.06), seventh in the 200m I.M. (2:53.53), and 10th in the 100m back (1:24.08).
“Adam got gold in his 50m free, had a fantastic swim,” Aquanauts’ coach Dawnn Taylor said of Stromberg’s performance.
“His goal going in was just to break his 30 seconds and he ended up with a 28,” she noted.
“We were really, really excited for that.
“He’s now looking to go to provincials because he has a provincial time,” Taylor added.
“That’s his next big stepping stone.”
Donovan Taylor, 16, also earned some medals for the local club, collecting silver in the 200m I.M. (2:08.64) and the 400m I.M. (4:40.88) and a pair of bronze in the 200m free (1:56.19) and 100m fly (57.45).
Taylor also recorded a fourth in the 200m back (2:08.41, a personal best), a fifth in the 100m breast (1:09.54), and a sixth in the 100m free (54.29).
He wrapped up the weekend with seventh-place finishes in the 100m back (1:01.59) and 400m free (4:16.62).
While the medals were a nice touch, Coach Taylor was more excited about her son’s progression in some of his other events.
“His breaststroke has gotten so much better,” she noted. “He took off lots of time in events that he just broke through two weeks ago.
“To be able to come back and do that again two weeks later, that really says something.
“If he can do that this early in the year, big things are probably going to happen,” she predicted.
“When you’re out there beating the university swimmers, that’s a big race.”
Donovan Taylor is building up to a whirlwind time in late February as he has the Speedo Eastern Championships from Feb. 17-20 in London, the short-course junior provincials in Nepean (outside Ottawa) from Feb. 24-27, and then the all-Ontarios on March 1-2 in Etobicoke.
“It’s a great opportunity to see how your sustaining powers are,” Coach Taylor reasoned.
“It’ll be something new, something he hasn’t done before, but it’s something that a swimmer his level needs to learn to be able to do,” she stressed.
Other Aquanauts who attend the Prairie Winter Invitational included Levi Rittau, Regan Danylchuk, and Krista Emond.
Rittau, 13, recorded his top finish with a 10th-place showing in the 400m free (5:07.60).
He also finished 11th in the 50m free (27.89).
The 12-year-old Danylchuk’s best result was an 11th-place showing in the 50m free (31.62).
Emond, 17, finished 21st in her best event—the 200m breast (3:14.24).
“They swam great, absolutely great,” Coach Taylor said of the team.
“If this is any indication of what’s going to happen the rest of this year, wow, we should have some really cool stuff happening,” she enthused.
The Aquanauts will be in action again this weekend as eight of its younger swimmers will compete at a meet in Thunder Bay.
