Thursday night: 800FR went well. Britney Dortona just missed the provincial standard by 0.22 seconds. All of the 800s were swum 2 per lane and not from the starting block (which I would argue would have saved her more then 0.22 seconds, but not much we can do about that). Sam Ceci, Colleen Jarv, Clancy Harris, Veronica Fong and Bjoern-Ole Schrader also had good swims in 800FR.
Friday: A few very solid 200IMs (Aysia Leckie under 3:00 for the first time and Emma Fender with a best time and placing 4th overall) and 50FRs (Aysia Leckie, again, with a best time and 6th overall and Britney Dortona and Veronica Fong placing in the top 20). Emma Fender obtained a bronze medal in 200BR with a PB and new club record (3:12.52) with Veronica Fong in 9th, also with a best time of about 2 seconds. Britney Dortona placed 6th in 400FR with a 2 second PB and Colleen Jarv placed 17th.
Saturday: The day started out very well with Clancy Harris almost breaking 1:10 for the first time in 100FR (she placed 25th/45). Sam Ceci and Loren O'Brien-Egesborg both had solid swims. Sam was slightly faster than she had been before and Loren was right on top of her best time. Sam placed 45th and Loren 54th out of 85. AJ Tarcy also had a best time in 100FR and placed 23rd. Loren placed 24th/48 in 100BK and AJ was 9th but did not make it into finals by scratches. The girls 13-14 200FR relay finished 14th after moving up from an 18th place seed. Some very solid swimming on this relay from Olivia Fong, Clancy Harris, Bronte McMaster and Kelly Smith (who was almost under 30 seconds in her leg). HHBF also beat Milton, who was seeded ahead.
In the afternoon session, we had some very exciting races! Emma Fender placed 8th in 100FR, but was slightly above her best time. Aysia Leckie and Britney Dortona was under 1:10 for the first time in 100FR, Quinn Jaggard placed 14th in 100FR with a new PB of 1:06.69. Veronica Fong and Emma Fender came 6th and 7th in 100BR. Livy Olson placed 14th in 100FLY in her very first race in this championship meet (she also had a 3 second best time by 3 seconds). Michael Jans (just returning from a school trip) muscled his way through a 200BK which was very heroic and well swum, but slightly above his best time.
Perhaps the most exciting moment of the day was in the girls 11-12 200FR relay when the HHBF girls (Aysia Leckie, Veronica Fong, Britney Dortona and Emma Fender) out touched the mighty Oakville girls by .01 seconds to win the bronze medal. They finished just behind TSC and NYAC and finished ahead of teams like Eswim, and Markham which is a huge achievement for these 4 girls. A great big congratulations to them.
So far, things going very well and I'm very proud of our performances. 1 day to go: I'll do my best to keep you posted.
Also, Swim Ontario picked up my recording of Andrew Ford's talk to the Blue Fins. See what they had to say about it HERE. This story also appears on the front page of Swim Ontario's website which is great exposure for our team. It really was a great visit. I encourage everyone to take a listen.
