Brandon Nord and Taylor Parker were both hoping for strong showings in their first trip to the Saskatchewan Summer Games.
However, the North Battleford natives weren’t expecting to be coming back from Estevan with a boatload of hardware draped around their necks after three days of competition from July 28-30.
“I honestly wasn’t expecting to win any medals when I was there,” Nord said. “I really just wanted to get some personal best times and do the best that I could.”
“I was hoping to have a chance to get some medals but I really just wanted to end the season on a high note,” Parker added. “To be able to get on the podium was an added bonus.”
Nord picked up six medals at the meet, including two gold medals in the 50 and 100 metre butterfly races.
His best swim was in the 50m butterfly final as he set a brand new meet record with a time 29.67 seconds.
“That was a real surprise for me,” Nord said. “The start and turn in that race is so important but you have to be really good on your underwater work as well. You really have to focus on everything in practice before you go out and race.
“I was really happy with my 100m race as I beat my previous personal best time. I was pretty tired afterwards but I was working pretty hard on that one.”
Nord also won silver medals in the 50m backstroke, 100m and 200m breaststroke and the 200m individual medley races.
“I was really happy with how I did in the 100m breaststroke,” Nord said. “I was able to drop off three seconds from my previous best time and I was really close to getting a Canadian Age Group Nationals qualifying time.”
Parker came away from the Summer Games with five medals. Like Nord, he picked up two gold medals as he reached the top of the podium in the 100m and 200m freestyle finals.
“I would have to say that freestyle is my best stroke,” Parker said. “I do long distance swimming as well so that really helps with my endurance and I was able to put in a strong effort in both of those races.
“After the preliminary races I was feeling confident going into the finals. I was swimming really well and I just wanted to keep that up.”
Parker also picked up a silver medal in the 400m freestyle and won bronze medals in the 50m freestyle and 100m backstroke.
“Out of those swims the 50m freestyle race stands out the most,” Parker said.
“I had a first place finish in my heat race and then I ended up getting the bronze medal which I was really happy about. It was also on the last day of the Games so it was great to finish things out on a high.”
In addition to their impressive performances, the Battlefords Orcas teammates also took away a lot of valuable lessons from their time in Estevan.
“Seeing how everyone comes together there made the whole week fun,” Parker said. “Our whole Rivers West team was very sportsmanlike throughout the competition and we got a number of compliments from that, which was nice to hear.”
“You really get to see just how strong the athletes are in the entire province,” Nord added. “You have to be at your very best at all times. You can’t just rest on your laurels.”
While both swimmers are currently resting up before starting another club season, Parker will be taking part in an exciting event in November.
He and his family will be taking part in a 10 km open water swimming competition in Barbados.
“It’s a lot different but I’m really looking forward to it,” Parker said.
