The pool is the place to be on the hot summer days, and the Estevan Golden Eels know that as well as anyone.
Over 130 swimmers descended on Estevan Saturday for the Southern Saskatchewan Speed Swimming Semi-Finals, where the Golden Eels swim club dominated the competition en route to a earning a large number of spots in provincials next week in Watrous.
“I was really excited but I was also kind of nervous,” said Adah DeLeeuw, who qualified for the 50m butterfly, 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 200m IM in the 13-14 year old girls category with her placings in Estevan. “I get kind of nervous in my own pool. But it was really fun and cool to know the place.”
The loud support from the home pool encouraged the team to do well, as they came out of the day with 649 points, a huge advantage over the Regina Piranhas who got 400 points for second place. The Eels will try to get their fourth points title in a row at provincials.
“I'm friends with a lot of the people from the other clubs too, so it's fun to have friends with the members from the other teams as well,” said DeLeeuw, who got a silver medal with her placings from her events. “It makes the sport a lot more exciting.”
DeLeeuw said she's been working a lot this year on her butterfly stroke and focussed on that this year.
“I want to get better on that one and improve on my times a lot.”
She's not alone in her improvement. A total of 40 of the 49 Eels who swam qualified for provincials in at least one swim, with several going on in a few events. DeLeeuw will be looking at continuing on in swimming after provincials, which are Aug. 5-7 in Watrous, and beyond.
“I want to beat my times from this year and maybe try some races that I might be good at, and different races in general,” she said.
Jaiden Jocelyn also earned a spot at provincials in the 50m butterfly, the 100 metre breaststroke, the 200 metre breaststroke, the 50 metre freestyle, and the 200m IM.
“The whole time I was swimming, I just wanted to beat my own times,” said Jocelyn. “I was swimming against myself.”
Now that he's going once again to provincials, the goal will be to beat those times. One of the best parts about hosting semi-provincials is the right to crash right after a long day in the pool.
“Now I can just go home and sleep,” he said.
Joining DeLeeuw and Jocelyn on the podium were fellow Estevan medal winners at the south semis: Rachel Duncan (7-8 girls, gold), Brooke Dzeryk (7-8 boys, bronze), Marcus Deleeuw (7-8 boys, silver), Jordyn Tarnes (9-10 girls, silver), Blake Andrist (9-10 boys, gold), William Duncan (9-10 boys, silver), Josie Andrist (11-12 girls, gold), Emily Tarnes (11-12 girls, bronze ), Tristan Threinen (11-12 boys, gold), Lucas Dzeryk (11-12 boys, bronze), Josh Wilson (13-14 boys, silver), Teaghen Hack (15-17 girls, gold).
