Over 30 teams from throughout the Greater Toronto and surrounding area gathered at the Etobicoke Olympium to compete at the Short Course Central Region Championships. COBRA’s team of 46 swimmers returned home with 10 gold medals, 9 silver medals and 13 bronze medals leading COBRA to a 7th place finish overall.

Martine Nyhof dominated the girls 10 & under and was named the High Point Award Winner for that age category. Martine achieved gold medal performances in the 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m breaststroke and 200m IM and a silver medal in the 100m backstroke. Martine set 5 new personal best times and qualified for provincials in the 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 200m IM.

Girls 14 High Point Award Winner Bayley Dalbec set personal best times in all 6 of her events. Bayley captured gold medals in the 200m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, a silver medal in the 50m freestyle and bronze medals in the 100m freestyle and 400m freestyle. Bayley qualified for provincials in 5 events: 100, 200m, 400m freestyle, 100m, 200m backstroke.

Alisha Learning, girls 10 & under, took home a silver medal in the 400m freestyle, sixth in the 200m backstroke and seventh in the 200m freestyle. Alisha set 5 best times including a 21 second improvement in the 400m freestyle. Shailyn MacQueen earned bronze medals in both the 200m and 400m freestyle. Alisha and Shailyn qualified for provincials in both the 200m and 400m freestyle. Aysan Tabrizi improved her 200m freestyle time by 4 seconds to finish 21st. Teammates Stephane Schweigl and Kylie Collier tied for seventh place in the 400m freestyle.

Among boys 11 & under, Alfonso Mennano’s bronze medal performance in the 100m breaststroke qualified him for provincials. Alfonso set 5 best times including a 16 second improvement in the 400m freestyle. Ben Xiao placed 11th in the 200m backstroke. Ethan Wilson set a personal best time to finish 24th in the 50m freestyle. Barstow Nyhof drop 6 seconds from his 200m backstroke time to finish 6th overall.

Hannah Longpre, girls 11, swam a personal best time in the 200m breaststroke to earn a silver medal and qualify for provincials. Linden Chung placed eighth in the 100m breaststroke. Sophia Buu swam to 20th place in the 200m backstroke.

Chloe Francoeur represented COBRA in the girls 12-year-old age category. Chloe improved her 800m freestyle time by 20 seconds and was 18th in the 400m freestyle.

Among boys 12, Connor Beals set 6 new personal best times earning him a gold medal in the 200m backstroke, bronze in the 400m freestyle, sixth place in the 100m backstroke and eighth place in the 200m freestyle. Connor made provincial times in the 400m freestyle and 200m backstroke. Harjot Lehal swam a personal best time to take 5th place in the 100m backstroke.

Aran Pourawal dropped 7 seconds from his 200m IM time to qualify for provincials and win a silver medal. Aran also earned bronze medals in both the 200m breaststroke and 50m freestyle and seventh in the 200m freestyle. Blake Sanders set a best time to earn 17th place overall in the 50m freestyle.

Kiara Seow, girls 13, set a personal best time in the 800m freestyle event to qualify for provincials and earn a bronze medal. Kiara was also fourth in the 400m freestyle and fifth in the 200m butterfly. Sabrina Phongphilack placed fourth in the 200m IM, fifth in the 800m freestyle and sixth in the 400m freestyle. Sabrina qualified for provincials in the 200m IM. Vivianna Choi was fourth in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke. Vivianna swam the 100m breaststroke in provincial time.

Among boys 13, Kavinda Karunaratne earned a gold medal in the 200m butterfly event. Matthew Ahola finished seventh in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke.

Danicca Sinanan, girls 14, won a silver medal in the 200m IM and placed fourth in both the 200m and 400m freestyle and sixth in the 100m freestyle. Danicca set six personal best times and qualified for provincials in the 200m freestyle and 200m IM. Mikayla Longpre improved her 100m breaststroke time to place 10th overall. Parvir Basra was sixth in the 1500m freestyle event.

Nimrata Virk dropped 5 seconds from her 200m butterfly capturing a gold medal and provincial time. Sarah Maddock swam to fourth place in the 1500m freestyle. Sara McLeod won a bronze medal in the 200m butterfly. Anyssa Walani was 24th in the 100m backstroke.

Liam Ryan, boys 14, set 4 best times to finish with a silver medal in the 200m freestyle and eighth in the 800m freestyle. Calvin Rai placed seventh in the 200m backstroke and 200m IM and eighth in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke. Oscar Elhanafey swam to 14th place in the 100m backstroke. Qile Wang finished seventh in the 100m breaststroke and eighth in the 200m breaststroke. Sean Aguiar was 13th in the 100m breaststroke.

In the girls 15 & over age category, Katrina Bhagaloo placed fourth in the 100m breaststroke and seventh in the 200m breaststroke. Natasha Cyr improved her time in 4 events. Natasha was 15th in the 200m backstroke.

Edna Banjanovic set 3 best times to finish 10th in both the 100m butterfly and 400m IM. Stephanie Pickering finished 24th in the 100m breaststroke. Kristen Whelan was 33rd in the 100m backstroke.

Aidan Zagar, boys 15, qualified for provincials and earned a silver medal in the 100m backstroke. Teammate Jacob Ahola placed fifth in the 50m freestyle, seventh in the 100m backstroke and eighth in the 200m backstroke. Jacob set 4 new personal best times. Billy Korekiyo finished 13th in the 200m breaststroke. Aaron Rai improved his 200m IM time to place seventh in the 200m IM.

Alex Kyriacopoulos represented COBRA in the boys 16 & over age category. Alex set personal best times in all 6 of his events including a bronze medal performance in the 100m butterfly.

In the relay events, COBRA 10 & under girls, Alisha Learning, Stephanie Schweigl, Kylie Collier, Shailyn MacQueen and Martine Nyhof won bronze medals in both the 4x50m freestyle and 4x50m medley relays.

The girls 13 & 14 relay team of Sabrina Phongphilack, Bayley Dalbec, Kiara Seow and Danicca Sinanan won a silver medal in the 4x50m freestyle.

COBRA Novice swimmers continue to improve both off the walls and in their technique as they work towards mastering the 4 strokes. The final installment in the series will be hosted by the Toronto Swim Club in the Spring.

Congratulations to all swimmers on their accomplishments:

Among girls 9 & Under, Esha Dewan swam to fifth place in the butterfly and seventh in both the freestyle and backstroke. Dilpreet Bhambra improved her butterfly time by 6 seconds to finish 11th overall. Jennifer Zhang took 20th position in the freestyle. Faith MacQueen set a new personal best time in the freestyle to finish 18th.

Annie Li earned 10th place in the freestyle. Lauren Kennedy dropped 11 seconds from her butterfly time to finish 30th. Mila Phongphilack swam to 14th place in the breaststroke. Suriya Desai placed 27th in the breaststroke.

Taylor King improved her breaststroke time to finish 16th overall. Ynah Marcelino, who competed in the butterfly for the first time, placed 29th. Shambhavi Pachauri dropped 9 seconds from her breaststroke time to place 37th.

Allanah Dalbec, Nishta Mehta and Izza Marcelino set personal best times in all 4 events. Allanah improved by 6 seconds in the butterfly to place 19th. Nishta dropped 10 seconds from her backstroke time to finish 33rd. Izza’s 4 second improvement put her in 25th place in the breaststroke. “Good job Izza,” says Sophie Cieplucha, from the National Group who was Izza’s meet buddy at the COBRA Intraclub meet.

Joseph Lewis, boys 9 and under, earned third place in the backstroke and freestyle and fifth in the butterfly. Ryan Bardin improved his butterfly by 9 seconds to finish 16th overall. Dylan Patrascu finished sixth in the butterfly and eight in the breaststroke. Nikhless Ramputty dropped 9 seconds from his freestyle time to finish 18th overall.

Michael Wang took sixth place in the freestyle and seventh in the butterfly and backstroke. Richard Rong improved his butterfly by 9 seconds to finish in 10th place. Richard was also fourth in the backstroke. William Albert swam a personal best time to place 14th in the backstroke. Jagtag Basra earned 9th place in the butterfly and backstroke and was tenth in the freestyle.

Competition was tough in the girls 10-year-old age category. Robyn Postma placed 11th in the backstroke. Teammate Emily Sotola improved her breaststroke time by 5 seconds to finish 20th overall. Thalia Douglas set 3 best times. Thalia was 17th in the backstroke.

Sasha Fantin improved her butterfly by 6 seconds to place 21st. Teshi Bollo-Kamara swam to 13th place in the breaststroke. Stephanie Wilson swam a personal best time to finish 18th in the backstroke. Katie Brown was 23rd in the breaststroke. Sarah Rashid set 3 new best times including a 4second improvement in the backstroke to finish 30th.

Adam Safaoui, boys 10, finished top 8 in all 4 events. Adam was third in the freestyle, fifth in the backstroke and seventh in both the butterfly and breaststroke. Jordan Sedore improved his butterfly by 5 seconds to place 9th overall. Jordan placed 10th in the freestyle. Adam Barone swam a personal best time to finish fifth in the breaststroke and tenth in the backstroke.

Shannon Bardin led girls 11-year-olds with fourth place finishes in the freestyle and breaststroke, fifth in the backstroke and seventh in the butterfly. Teammate Raman Gill improved her backstroke time by 9 seconds. Malwina Zerek dropped time in all 4 events. Malwina was ninth in the breaststroke. Sarah McGonigal swam a personal best time in the freestyle. Grace Allworth took ninth place in the butterfly and backstroke and tenth in the freestyle all in best times.

Among the 11-year-old boys, Enzo Baracuhy swam personal best times in all 4 events. Enzo finished ninth in the backstroke and tenth in the butterfly. James Wang improved his times to place tenth in the breaststroke and freestyle.

Kayla Goodridge represented COBRA in the girls 12 age category. Kayla swam personal best times in all 4 events to finish sixth in the breaststroke and freestyle and eighth in the butterfly and backstroke. Kayla improved her butterfly time by 6 seconds.

Rajita Sharma, girls 13, was first in all 4 events. Rajita improved her butterfly time by 5 seconds.

Nicholas Schweigl, boys 13-year-old, took first place in the butterfly and freestyle and second in the backstroke and breaststroke.

Cierra Glysz led the charge just days after aging up to 13. The increased competition at the higher level did not phase nor slow Cierra as she continued on her torrid pace. Most notably she took gold in the 50m free in an exciting Dash for Cash event with a new best time in Canada for girls born in 1999. In six separate 50 metre races leading to the championship she easily dispatched all comers in a truly remarkable performance. Cierra also took home gold in the 200m free, 800m free, 100m back and 200m IM in addition to silver in the 100m breaststroke.

Also in the 13-year-old female category, Tessa Cieplucha took home a total of five medals; gold in the 50m back, silver in the 200 IM and bronze in the 100m free, 200m free and 100m back. Hayley Lineham earned silver medals in the 50m back, 50m butterfly and 200m freestyle in the same very competitive field.

Amongst 13-year-old boys Spencer Ogston captured first place in the 50m breaststroke and silver in the 50m back while teammate Eddie Hernandez took bronze in the 50m butterfly.

In the 14-year-old group Bayley Dalbec was the lone girl to medal earning a gold medal in the 50m back and bronze in the 100m back. Three 14-year-old boys managed to take home some hardware with Sean Aguiar winning silver in the 50m back, Daniel Celej taking bronze in the same event and Qile Wang grabbing the bronze in the 50m breaststroke.

Fifteen-year-old Katrina Baghaloo delivered to high expectations in the 15 & Over breaststroke by taking silver in the 50 metre and bronze in the 100 metre events.

Many swimmers posted multiple best times setting the stage for success in the upcoming Central Regional Championship meet as well as Provincial SC Championship.

Paige Hall finished 4th in the 400m freestyle, 5th in the 200m backstroke, 7th in the 800m freestyle, 15th in the 200m freestyle and 17th in the 100m backstroke.

Bavindeep Basra finished 12th in the 400m individual medley and 17th in the 200m individual medley.

Stefano Gardiman finished 4th in the 200m backstroke, 7th in the 100m backstroke, 9th in the 50m backstroke, 8th in the 400m individual medley and 11th in the 200m individual medley.

Sophie Cieplucha finished 4th in the 100m breaststroke and 400m individual medley, 6th in the 200m butterfly and 13th in the 200m backstroke.

Daniel Manson finished 14th in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, 15th in the 200m individual medley, 16th in the 50m breaststroke and 400m individual medley and 17th in the 200m backstroke.

Myles Zagar finished 18th in the 400m freestyle and 400m individual medley.

Hats off to COBRA for another job well done!

Here are their accomplishments:

Martine Nyhof, girls 10 & under, had another amazing meet. Among her 9 top 8 finishes, Martine earned first place in the 50m and 200m backstroke and second place in the 100m breaststroke, 100m butter fly and 200m IM. Teammate Tavinder Pourawal finished second in the 50m butterfly and 200m breaststroke. Stephanie Schweigl placed fifth in both the 200m and 400m freestyle. Aysan Tabrizi improved her 200m freestyle time by 17 seconds. Aysan was sixth in the 50m breaststroke.

Alisha Learning captured first in the 200m fly and 1500m freestyle and third in the 200m freestyle. Alisha posted the 4th fastest time in Canada in the 1500m freestyle in this age category. Sophia Buu earned 6 top 6 finishes, including first in the 50m breaststroke and second in the 200m freestyle. Drew Ashley improved her 50m butterfly by an impressive 7 seconds to finish fifth.

Kylie Collier and Shailyn MacQueen finished top 8 in 7 events each. Highlights were Kylie’s fourth place finish in the 100m butterfly and Shailyn’s fourth place in both the 50m and 200m freestyle. Both girls improved their 400m freestyle time by over 24 seconds. Nice work girls!!

Barstow Nyhof dominated the boys 10 & under category. Barstow took home first place in the 50m and 200m backstroke, second in the 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke and third in the 100m freestyle. Ethan Wilson earned third in both the 50m and 100m breaststroke. Pablo Ortiz finished third in the 50m back and improved his 200m backstroke by 20 seconds. Robert Nedelea placed top 6 in all 8 of his events including a 4th in the 400m freestyle.

Alfonso Menanno, boys 11, captured first place in the 200m breaststroke and third in the 100m breaststroke. Ben Xiao earned second place in the 50m back. Ben dropped 18 seconds from his 400m freestyle time.

In the girls 11 age category, Hannah Longpre took second place in both the 100m and 200m breast and third in the 100m back. Linden Chung improved her 100m breaststroke time by 7 seconds to finish third. Victoria Cabraja was second in the 50m breaststroke. Riley Auld placed fourth in the 50m backstroke. Meghan Maddock finished fifth in the 50m backstroke and improved her 800m free time by 24 seconds. Dana King dropped 11 seconds from her 200m freestyle time to finish 10th overall.
Kiara Seow posted the 4th fastest time in Canada, among girls 12, in the 1500m freestyle to capture first place. Kiara placed top 5 in all 7 of her events; she was second in the 50m freestyle and 100m breast and third in the 200m back. Chloe Francoeur finished fifth in the 200m butterfly. Kersten Chong placed fifth in the 200m fly.

A strong showing by boys 12 was led by Andrew Beals, who captured first place in the 200m backstroke and 400m IM, second place in the 200m butterfly and third place in both the 100m free and 100m backstroke. Teammate Aran Pourawal took second place in the 400m IM and third in the 400m freestyle and 100m butterfly. Harjot Lehal captured first in the 50m backstroke. Blake Sanders was third in the 50m butterfly. Connor Beals earned second place in the 400m freestyle and 200m IM.
COBRA also impressed in the relay events.

The girls 10 & under relay time captured second place in both the 4x50m freestyle and 4x50m medley events. Great job: Martine, Stephanie, Alisha, Sophia and Kylie!

Ethan, Barstow, Pablo and Robert, boys 10 & under, earned first place in the 4x50m freestyle relay and second in the 4x50m medley relay.

In the boys 11 – 12 age group, Andrew, Connor, Harjot and Aran had a close battle with Oakville but managed to out-touch them to the wall in the 4x50m medley relay to take first place. The boys were also second in the 4x50m freestyle relay.

Special congratulations to Barstow Nyhof, Ben Xiao, Blake Sanders, Ethan Wilson, Kylie Collier, Martine Nyhof, Shailyn MacQueen, Sophia Buu and Tavinder Pourawal who swam personal best times in all of their events. Impressive!!

The meet started off with the Butterfly, which for many on this team was their first time racing this stroke. 8-year-old Annie Li shaved more than 26 seconds off her time and finished 17th. 10-year-old Sarah Rashid also had an impressive showing by finishing 22nd and taking more than 20 seconds off her personal best time. Congratulations girls! The boys also performed well in the 50m butterfly with 2 of the 6 boys finishing in the top 10. Michael Wang finished 6th and Jordan Sedore came in 8th. William Albert also made an impressive showing by finishing 14th and shaving more than 5 seconds off his personal best time.

The team also performed very well in the 50m backstroke. Jagtaj Basra finished 6th, Michael Wang 9th, and Jordan Sedore 10th. Both Jagtaj and Jordan took more than 4 seconds off their personal best times in this stroke. For the girls Annie Li, finishing 17th and Jennifer Zhang, finishing 18th both beat their personal bests. Jennifer shaved more than 6 seconds off her time. Impressive all around!

The girls also rocked the breaststroke with 8-year-old Taylor King finishing 17th right behind 10-year-old Sarah Rashid who finished 16th and shaved 1 second off her personal best time. 8-year-old Dylan Patrascu finished 9th with the fastest time amongst the competing 8 year olds. Trevor Fitzpatrick made a significant achievement by shaving 4 seconds off his personal best time for the 50m breaststroke.

The freestyle 50m was the final race of the meet for the swimmers. Although they were tired they each gave a valiant effort. 9-year-old Dilpreet Bhambra, competing in her first swim meet, finished 20th, 6th amongst the competing 9-year-olds. Taylor King shaved more than 8 seconds off her personal best. 8-year-old Michael Wang finished 6th and achieved the fasted time for the competing 8-year-olds shaving 1 second off his personal best.

Overall, a great start to the year!

Attending the Canada Games Training Camp was a new and exciting experience. Sophie, Brooke and I are being considered to participate in the 2013 Canada Games as representatives of Team Ontario. Our first training camp took place this past weekend from the 6th to the 8th of January. We arrived at the Wilfrid Laurier University athletic complex where we met the rest of the swim team and coaching staff and off we went to our training camp.

The coaches brought their extensive knowledge on the sport of swimming to the camp. The main focus on the event was increasing the speed of underwater kicking and being more efficient on and off the walls. The coaches were able to identify the problems we were having through the use of underwater cameras. Dean Boles, the Swim Ontario mentor explained the importance of underwater work at a national and international high-performance level. He explained that the best swimmers in the world are very efficient and fast under the water. He mentioned and emphasized on the importance of making the underwater kicks smaller with faster impulses. He concluded one of his speeches by saying that the Canada Games meet is a good indicator which swimmers in Canada will eventually represent their country at an international level.

After the swimming portion of our day was completed we were off to the gymnasium to fix our flexibility and posture with trainer Steve Topham. Steve taught us that having good posture leads to success in the water and assists us in executing our walls with more speed and efficiency.

It takes long pool hours, hard work and many years to become one of the best swimmers in the province and Canada. For the three of us to be considered as hopefuls for the 2013 Canada Games is an honour and accomplishment in our swimming careers. We had an exceptional time and we hope many future COBRA athletes can experience being part of a Provincial and or National level team.

Sophie Cieplucha: Reflections on the Training Camp

On January 6th, 2012 Stefano, Brooke, and I as part of the group of 60 qualified swimmers from all across Ontario, travelled by Coach bus to Laurier University in Waterloo to take part in the Canada Games Hopeful Stage 1 Camp.

Throughout the camp we did a variety of test sets during practices. Personally, my favourite feature of practice was working with the underwater video cameras. The coaches filmed our underwater kicks, turns and entries and gave us constructive feedback. Even during the short time spent using the cameras, I was able to see my skills improve as I could to visualize what I needed to change.

It was discussed how important small fast impulse kicking are to become more efficient underwater. One of the exercises to test this skill was the streamline position vertical kick. This was a really tough exercise to master.

Swim Onatrio’s dryland instructor, Steve Topham, emphasized how our posture is so critical to swimming. He stressed how our posture throughout the day will affect our body position and performance in the pool.

The video about posture and preparation can be found at this link: http://vimeo.com/34903830

It was great to spend the time with a pool full of great athletes and coaches. After 3 days of 3 hours training sessions, dryland and team building, I came home exhausted but excited to get back in the pool and implement what I had learnt into my training.

Brooke Hall: Reflections on the Training Camp

The Ontario Swim Camp was a very positive and educational experience for me. I was not only given the opportunity to work with advanced technology and sports specialists to improve my swimming and preparation, but I was able to interact and train with peer swimmers from all over Ontario.

The camp consisted of step sets to test our endurance and the way we swam. One thing that was stressed was “it isn’t the time that counts, but how you reach that time.” That being said, there was a lot of focus on keeping stroke count consistent and as low as possible throughout the set. We also did a lot of work on underwater and even splitting the second half of a race.

During the dryland portion we learned various recovery exercises and stretches. The importance of posture was covered. These stretches mostly stressed the importance of mobility throughout the shoulder and hip joints as these are the tightest areas in a swimmer’s body. Simply swinging legs in a controlled pattern, arm circles and repetition of simple movements keep joins loose and mobile. This is called dynamic stretching which is very good to do right away after practice or a work out (opposite of static stretches which are holding stretches in place with little movement). Remember not to over extend or over stretch.

These are just a few of the topics that were covered in this swim camp. Over all I found it to be a fun and educational experience for me with new ideas to help me improve my preparation.

COBRA Swim Club kicked off the new year by hosting their annual weekend 2012 Cash Challenge Swim Meet at our own McMurchy Pool in Brampton. COBRA’s Olympic Way, Junior, Youth, National Development and National Group swimmers attended the three-day event held on January 6th to the 8th. COBRA’s athletes displayed their swimming skills against other great athletes from the region. Compliments to the coaching staff lead by National Group and Head Coach Bill O’Toole, National Development Coach Tony Cowx, Junior Coach Jorge Neves, Youth Coach Casey Beck and Olympic Way Coach Ian Rooperine. Congratulations to all the swimmers from the novice athletes to the experienced National level athletes for swimming exceptionally well throughout the weekend. Here are your medalists.

COBRA 10 & Under Age Group Swimmers

In the female 10 & Under Martine Nyhof had an outstanding weekend finishing 1st in the 50m butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, 200m individual medley, 100m breaststroke, 2nd in the 100m butterfly and 3rd in the 50m and 400mfreestyle, 100m backstroke and 200m breaststroke. Alisha Learning finished 1st in the 400m freestyle, 2nd in the 800m freestyle and 3rd in the 50m butterfly, 200m individual medley and 100m freestyle. Shailyn MacQueen completed her weekend with a 3rd place finish in the 50m backstroke and 200m freestyle. Sophia Buu finished 1st in the 50m freestyle, 2nd in the 50m breaststroke, 100m and 200m freestyle and 200m backstroke. Stephanie Schweigl finished with some great wins capturing 1st in the 100m freestyle, 200m breaststroke, 2nd in the 50m and 400m freestyle, 200m individual medley and 3rd in the 50m and 100m breaststroke, 200m backstroke and 800m freestyle. Aysan Tabrizi finished 3rd in the 200m butterfly. Kylie Collier finished 3rd in the 100m butterfly and Kiera Brough took 1st place in the 800m freestyle. Bianca Mitchell finished 2nd in the 50m butterfly.

COBRA 11 & Under Age Group Swimmers

In the boys 11 & Under category Alfonso Menanno had an exceptional weekend finishing 1st in the 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, 50m freestyle, 200m breaststroke and 2nd in the 200m individual medley, 100m and 200m backstroke, 800m freestyle, 100m butterfly and 3rd in the 100m breaststroke. Ethan Wilson finished 2nd in the 50m butterfly and 3rd in the 50m breaststroke. Ben Xiao captured 1st place in the 800m freestyle, 2nd in the 50m breaststroke, 400m freestyle and 3rd place in the 50m and 100m butterfly, 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, 50m freestyle and 200m breaststroke. Barstow Nyhof was not far behind finishing 2nd in the 50m backstroke, 50m freestyle, 200m breaststroke and 3rd in the 800m freestyle.

In the girls 11 years of age category Linden Chung finished with a 1st place in the 50m butterfly, 50m breaststroke and 3rd in the 100m breaststroke. Breanna Campbell finished 2nd in the 50m butterfly. Meghan Maddock finished 3rd in the 50m butterfly and 400m freestyle. Victoria Cabraja finished 1st in the 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle, 2nd in the 50m breaststroke and 800m freestyle and 3rd in the 200m freestyle. Riley Auld finished 2nd in the 50m backstroke and 3rd in the 50m freestyle. Cassandra Dalbec finished 2nd in the 50m and 400m freestyle and 3rd in the 50m backstroke. Dana King finished 1st in the 400m freestyle and 3rd in the 50m breaststroke. Hannah Longpre finished 1st in the 100m breaststroke, 2nd in the 200m breaststroke and 3rd in the 800m freestyle and 400m individual medley. Way to go girls!

The 12-Year-Old Winners!

In the female 12 years of age category there was no stopping Cierra Glysz this weekend. She finished 1st in all her events, 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly, 50m and 100m backstroke, 50m and 100m breaststroke, 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle. Kiara Seow finished 1st in the 800m freestyle, and captured 2nd in the 50m and 100m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle, 200m individual medley and 3rd in the 400m freestyle. Chloe Francoeur finished 3rd in the 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke. Kersten Chong finished 3rd in the 50m freestyle.

In the male 12 years of age category Aran Pourawal finished 1st in the 50m butterfly, 50m breaststroke, 2nd in the 50m freestyle and 3rd in the 400m individual medley. The Beals competed side by side with Andrew Beals finishing 1st in the 50m backstroke, 200m breaststroke, 2nd in the 50m butterfly, 3rd in the 50m breaststroke, 50m freestyle. Connor Beals finished 2nd in the 50m backstroke and 200m breaststroke, 3rd in the 50m, 200m butterfly and 100m breaststroke. Stefano Mitchell finished 1st in the 50m freestyle, 2nd in the 50m breaststroke and 3rd in the 50m backstroke and 100m freestyle.

The 13-Year-Old Winners!

In the female 13 years of age age category Tessa Cieplucha dominated the meet finishing 1st in the 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 50m and 100m breaststroke, 50m and 800m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 2nd in the 100m and 400m freestyle and 100m butterfly. Hayley Lineham was outstanding and finished 1st in the 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 200m freestyle and 400m individual medley, 2nd in the 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 50m, 100m and 800m freestyle. Vivianna Choi finished 2nd in the 200m breaststroke, 3rd in the 50m butterfly, 50m breaststroke and 400m freestyle. Sabrina Phongphilack finished 1st in the 200m breaststroke and 200m backstroke, 2nd in the 50m breaststroke and 400m individual medley, 3rd in the 50m backstroke, 50m freestyle, 200m individual medley and 100m breaststroke.

In the male 13 years of age category Matthew Ahola had some huge wins finishing 1st in the 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke, 50m and 100m freestyle, 2nd in the 200m backstroke. Kavinda Karunaratne finished 1st in the 200m butterfly, 2nd in the 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, 50m and 400m freestyle. Spencer Ogston finished 3rd in the 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, 50m freestyle.

The Wins Continue for the 14 Year Olds!

In the female 14 years of age category Bayley Dalbec finished 1st in the 50m butterfly, 2nd in the 50m and 200m backstroke, 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle. Anyssa Walani finished 2nd in the 50m and 100m butterfly, 3rd in the 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke and 50m freestyle. Danicca Sinanan had wonderful results finishing 1st in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke, 50m and 200m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 100m butterfly, 2nd in the 100m freestyle, 3rd in the 50m and 200m butterfly. Sarah Maddock finished 1st in the 400m freestyle, 2nd in the 100m breaststroke, 3rd in the 50m breaststroke and 800m freestyle. Sara McLeod finished 1st in the 200m butterfly. Nimrata Virk finished 1st in the 400m individual medley, 2nd in the 100m and 200m butterfly. Mikayla Longpre finished 2nd in the 200m breaststroke, 3rd in the 100m breaststroke. Elise Chung finished 3rd in the 200m breaststroke. Parvir Basra finished 3rd in the 200m backstroke and 400m freestyle.

In the male 14 years of age category Liam Ryan finished 1st in the 50m butterfly, 2nd in the 50m, 100m, 200m and 800m freestyle, 400m individual medley and 3rd in the 50m backstroke and 200m individual medley. Navraj Kalra ended the weekend with 1st place finishes in the 50m backstroke, 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle, 2nd in the 50m and 200m butterfly, 100m backstroke and 3rd in the 50m breaststroke. Jonathan Lewis finished 2nd in the 100m butterfly and 3rd in the 50m butterfly. Calvin Rai finished 1st in the 50m and 100m breaststroke, 200m backstroke, 2nd in the 50m backstroke and 200m freestyle and 3rd in the 100m backstroke. Qile Wang finished 2nd in the 50m breaststroke and 400m freestyle. Oscar Elhanafey finished 1st in the 200m and 400m individual medley, 2nd in the 200m backstroke and 3rd in the 50m freestyle and 100m breaststroke. Sean Aguiar finished 2nd in the 200m breaststroke.

15 Year Old Winners!

In the female 15 years of age category Bavindeep Basra swam to victory winning 1st in the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly, 200m and 400m individual medley, 200m breaststroke, 200m backstroke, 200m and 400m freestyle, 2nd in the 50m and 100m backstroke, 50m and 100m freestyle and 50m breaststroke. Paige Hall was the 1st place winner in the 50m and 100m backstroke, 50m and 100m freestyle, 2nd in the 50m and 200m butterfly, 200m individual medley and 200m breaststroke. Edna Banjanovic captured 3rd in the 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle. Natasha Cyr was the 2nd place winner in the 200m backstroke, 3rd in the 50m and 100m backstroke. Katrina Bhagaloo won 1st place in the 50m and 100m breaststroke, 2nd in the 200m breaststroke, 3rd in the 200m backstroke and 200m freestyle. Stephanie Pickering earned a 2nd place in the 400m freestyle and 3rd in the 50m breaststroke. Isabelle Francoeur finished 3rd in the 100m breaststroke and Tatiana Hernandez also finished 3rd in the 400m freestyle.

In the male 15 years of age category Jacob Ahola had an incredible weekend finishing 1st in the 50m butterfly, 50m and 100m freestyle, 2nd in the 100m butterfly. David Aguilera captured many wins finishing 1st place in the 100m and 200m butterfly, 800m freestyle, 400m individual medley, 2nd in the 50m butterfly, 200m freestyle, 3rd in the 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle. Christopher Manson came in 3rd in the 50m butterfly. Daniel Manson took home many wins beginning with 1st place in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke, 200m individual medley, 200m freestyle, 2nd in the 50m and 800m freestyle and 3rd in the 100m freestyle. Austin Learning finished 2nd in the 50m backstroke, 200m butterfly, 200m individual medley and 3rd in the 100m and 200m backstroke. Danai Sisouphanh completed his weekend with 2nd place wins in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke. Michael Neves earned two 2nd place finishes in the 100m backstroke and100m freestyle, 3rd in the 50m and 200m breaststroke, 200m individual medley and100m butterfly. Aidan Zagar finished 2nd in the 200m backstroke and 3rd in the 200m butterfly. Creighton Thicke-Rattray captured a 1st place win in the 400m freestyle and 2nd place finishes in the 200m and 800m freestyle. Aaron Rai finished 3rd in the 100m breaststroke. Billy Korekiyo finished 2nd in the 400m freestyle and 400m individual medley and Logan Zettle concluded the meet with a 3rd place win in the 400m freestyle.

Our 16 & Over Winners!

Michael Belanger collected 1st place wins in the 50m, 100m, 200m butterfly, 50m and 200m freestyle, 2nd in the 50m backstroke, 200m individual medley, 100m freestyle and 3rd in the 50m and 100m breaststroke. Myles Zagar also had countless wins finishing 1st in the 50m, 100m, 200m backstroke, 50m, 200m breaststroke, 200m individual medley, 800m freestyle, 2nd in the 50m, 200m butterfly, 50m freestyle and 3rd in the 100m butterfly. Alex Kyriacopoulos finished 2nd in the 200m butterfly and 3rd in the 50m butterfly. Connor Maddock ended the weekend with 2nd place finishes in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke, 3rd in the 50m backstroke and 200m individual medley. Chris Caldwell finished 1st in the 400m freestyle, 2nd in the 800m freestyle and 3rd in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle and 100m backstroke.

Congratulations to all the swimmers, coaches and parent volunteers for their contribution and commitment in organizing a great event!

This year’s toy donations for the Peel Police Toys for Tots Drive was an exceptional one, with a van-full of toys being generously donated by COBRA families. Thank you to everyone for supporting the toy drive!

A special note to Tanya Collier and Kim Inglis – Clarke for organizing this year’s event and a warm thank you to all the volunteers who helped pull this event together.

Sophie Cieplucha: Reflections on the Paul Bergen meet

My experience traveling to Portland, Oregon as a member of the Swim Ontario Tour Team to take part in the 13th Annual Paul Bergen SC International Championships was great. The meet was held at The Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton, Oregon USA hosted by the Tualatin Hills Swim Club Thunderbolts.

Our team of 16 swimmers, the 4 coaches and our chaperone, Anne Bell, flew to Vancouver, BC than connected to Portland, Oregon. Travel days were long and tiring. We reviewed the teams plans and schedule upon our arrival. We stayed at a really nice hotel.

The first full day in Portland consisted of 2 training sessions in the pool. With a good dinner and well needed sleep, we were really excited to race the next day.

The pool was within walking distance so we were lucky the weather was good.

The three coaches, Murray Drudge (NYAC), Don Burton (GMAC), and Cathy Pardy (OAK) as well as the Provincial Mentor Coach Dean Boles were great mentors and provided me with helpful pointers at the same time providing a new perspective on my strokes and technique. It was great to be surrounded by coaches with their experiences and I plan to take the things I’ve learned from them and review them with Coach Bill.

Before each prelim and finals session each day 2 of us were selected to lead stretches and activation warmups and then following with a Team Ontario cheer. I qualified for 5 finals out of my 6 races and I was first alternate for the 6th race. Relays were every night at the end of finals session.

There were swimmers from the US, various provinces throughout Western Canada, Ontario, Quebec as well a visiting team from Germany. It was a fast meet, competition was great. Canadian records were broken during finals. So many exciting close races swam by Team Ontario members and lots of screaming and cheering. I made a lot of fun new friends from all over the province.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience that I would love to take part in again. Representing Swim Ontario was a privilege.