The Estevan Golden Eels Swim Club are 2015 provincial champions after delivering an outstanding performance at the marquee swim meet of the summer in Biggar last weekend.
Seventeen Eels won medals in their individual events at the July 25 to 26 tournament and the club itself won the Harry Bailey Provincial Championship Trophy for the second year in a row by earning 1,029 points.
“We had a lot of kids improve times and a lot of good races,” said Akeela Jundt, coach of the Eels. “At semis we had kids swimming a little bit slower than they had in the past and so we were really excited because they actually did (peak) at provincials, which is what we had hoped for them. That was the plan for the season, but you never know how it’s going to go.”
Jundt said the provincial meet showcased a lot of personal bests for the Eels. She said the kids managed to have a lot of fun too at the event and make many new friends, which is great to see at such a competitive meet.
“The atmosphere (at provincials) is a little bit different than from a regular meet,” she said. “There is a little bit more excitement, a little bit more pressure and the best thing is that we are not just a member of our team, we are a member of the south team too.
“It really helps the kids branch out and make friends with other clubs too because we are all part of the same team in the south, so that is the cool part about provincials.”
Humboldt’s northern Saskatchewan club proved the toughest competition for Estevan at the finals as they came closest to taking the high point club award, but the Eels persevered and pulled out the win.
Jundt said the Estevan swimmers also did well against their northern neighbours in the north-south all-star relay competition.
“A lot of our swimmers who went made it onto those teams. They take the top-eight from the south for each age division for those relays, so we had a lot of swimmers in that.”
Jundt said the Eels have won provincials in consecutive seasons in previous years making the 2014 and 2015 championships a continued part of Estevan’s legacy. She said the win this year can be contributed solely to the passion and enthusiasm shown by all the swimmers throughout the season.
“They are the ones showing up and swimming,” she said. “The more kids you have swimming at a meet, the more chance you can win that meet because usually when you have more athletes you get better quality.”
Estevan Golden Eels Swim Club medal winners at the 2015 provincials include: Jordyn Tarnes (silver-50 back, bronze-25 fly, gold-50 free, gold-25 free and gold-100 IM) in the girls seven to eight-year-old category; Blake Andrist (gold-25 breast) and William Duncan (bronze-25 breast, gold-50 free and gold-25 free) in the boys seven to eight-year-old category; Alexandra Andrist (silver-100 back and bronze-50 back), Josephina Andrist (silver-100 free and silver-100 IM) and Emily Tarnes (silver-50 breast and bronze-100 breast) in the girls nine to 10-year-old category; Logan Dalziel (bronze-100 back, bronze-50 fly and silver-100 breast), Lucas Dzeryk (gold-25 fly, gold-100 free, silver-50 back, gold-50 free and gold-100 IM) and Denver Sehn (silver-100 back and bronze-100 breast) in the boys nine to 10-year-old category; Hannah Mantei (gold-200 free, gold-50 fly, gold-100 breast, gold-50 free and gold-200 IM) in the girls 11 to 12-year-old category; Josh Wilson (silver-100 back, bronze-100 free, silver-50 back and gold-50 fly) in the boys 11 to 12-year-old category; Payton Wilson (bronze-100 breast and bronze-200 breast) in the girls 13 to 14-year-old category; Jaiden Jocelyn (bronze-200 back and bronze-100 free) in the boys 13 to 14-year-old category; Raquelle Gibbons (silver-200 breast, gold-100 free, gold-50 free and gold-200 IM) in the girls 15 to 17-year-old category and Samuel Beahm (silver-200 free, silver-100 breast, silver-100 free, gold-200 breast and silver-200 IM), Colin Sutter (gold-100 breast and silver-200 breast) and Thomas Wakely (silver-200 back, gold-50 fly, silver-100 fly and bronze-200 IM) in the boys 15 to 17-year-old category.
Eels high point winners were Jordyn Tarnes (60), Lucas Dzeryk (63) and Hannah Mantei (65). Adah DeLeeuw and Hannah Mantei also were part of the Girls 11-12 South A team that broke the provincial record in the 200 Medley Relay and Josh Wilson swam in the Boys 13-14 South A team that broke the provincial record for the 200 Medley Relay.
