The Estevan Mermaids Synchronized Swimming Club brought home numerous of medals after competing at Sadie Calder Knight Provincial Championship Meet in Regina on April 11 and 12.
There were eight other teams competing at the event.
Estevan had around 45 athletes compete at provincials. The Mermaids had athletes in both recreational and provincial stream categories.
Coach Brenda Lyons said that this is the only event that the recreational team competes in.
“It’s kind of an exciting weekend for them because they get to see what Synchro’s all about on the-big-stage sort of thing,” she said.
The first day of competition on April 11, saw the athletes compete in the figures and solo event.
In the Provincial stream competition Brooke Kruger won gold in the 13 to 15 division and Haley Copeland earned the bronze medal in the 11 and 12 age group in the figures event.
Other finishes in the figures was Laura Swirski who finished 19th out of the 22 competitors in the nine and ten category.
In the 11 and 12 age group, Rebecca Duncan and Chelsea Brady both finished in 16th place, and Brooklyne Brady was in 18th. There were 27 athletes overall competing in that event.
There were 44 competitors in the 13 to 15 division, and Hannah Mantei finished fourth while Marlie Weinrauch was eighth. Nyla Dyck placed 14th and Gemma Bittman was in 19th.
In the 16 to 18 division, Kelsey Potoma was in sixth place and Courtney Reetz was 10th.
In the recreational competition, ribbons were handed out to the athletes instead of medals.
Thirty-nine athletes competed in the nine and 10 division and Estevan had nine athletes finish in the top twenty.
Kristen Carlson earned the top spot, Seriah Potoma was third, while Annalise Weinrauch was seventh. Katie Waldegger and Tamsen Schmidt placed 13th, Gracie Dzuba was 17th, and Lindsay Mack, Jersey McIntyne and Emily Tarnes 18th to 20th, respectively.
In the 11 and 12 category, seven athletes competed and Kaylee Carlson and Kendra Cossette took the top two spots.
Later in the day, the athletes competed in the solo competition. Three competitors earned medals in the provincial stream competition. Kruger earned gold and Mantei took home silver in the 13 to 15 division.
Kueger has earned gold medals in all three meets the Mermaids competed, this year, both she and Mantei have performed well all year.
“It’s nice we have two athletes that are really challenging each other to get better all of the time,” Lyons said.
Kelsey Potoma finished with silver and Reetz finished fourth in the 16 to 18 age group.
Anna Lawrence competed in the Masters Solo Free final.
The final day of competition, the Mermaids performed duet and team routines.
In the recreational competition, McIntyre and Seriah Potoma earned first place in the nine and 10 division, and in the 11 and 12 age category, Kaylee Carlson and Kendra Cossette finished in first.
In the provincial stream competition, Haley Copeland and Rebecca Duncan (first year in competitive swimming) earned silver in the 11 and 12 category. There were two Estevan Duets competing in the 13 to 15 division, and Maya Daoust and Marlie Weinrauch earned silver and Emily Thompson and Caitlin Graham took home bronze.
In the team event, the recreational team in the nine to 10 division placed first with their championship score as they competed against six other teams.
In the 11 and 12 division in the provincial stream competition, Estevan earned silver. Lyons said that it was the team’s first year competing competitively and they have worked very well together.
“I wouldn’t have guessed that they would place that high at the beginning of the year, but they’ve learned so much this year,” she said.
Out of the six teams, the Mermaids also earned silver in the 13 to 15 provincial stream division, and just fell short of gold by 0.01, Lyons added.
Overall Lyons was proud with the way the Mermaids competed at provincials and said that all athletes worked incredibly hard all year.
“We train so much less than a lot of the other clubs do… so, I feel with the amount we train … I think we do very, very well,” she said
Next up for the Mermaids will be, hosting their annual water show at the RM of Estevan Aquatic Center on April18. The show starts at 6:30 p.m.
