By Angie Abdou
On the weekend of March 18th, 6 Elk Valley Dolphins who met the qualification standards traveled to compete at the Manitoba-Saskatchewan Junior Provincial Championships in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The team’s performance was astonishing with athletes achieving over 95% personal best times – and the other 5% of races very close to best times. “There’s a lot to celebrate about this meet,” said Coach Aidan Chudleigh. “We’ve been working hard on our turns. We saw that focused effort paying out big with our swimmers consistently coming off the walls ahead of other swimmers and continually knocking seconds off their own best times.”
As the team’s youngest swimmer, Layla Rella swam first in each session and set a great tone for the rest of the Elk Valley athletes. In each event, Rella led her age group and improved on her previous performances. The ten-year-old swimmer came home from the competition with 2 club records in the 11 & under age group (50 breast and 100 breast) and 8 gold medals in the provincial championships’ 10 & under division (100 free, 100 back, 50 breast, 100 fly, 400 free, 200 back, 100 breast, and 200 free).
16-year-old Jackson Radkie also came home with a medal in every event: gold in the 100 free, 50 back, 50 free and 50 fly; silver in the 100 back, 50 breast, and 100 breast; and bronze in the 200 IM. Radkie has had an impressive 2022-23 season, showing big improvements in his technical finesse as well as an increased enthusiasm for racing.
Kiera Hansen (17 years old) also had a great weekend, setting best times in every event, and winning the 13 & over 100 free, 200 IM, 100 fly, 50 free, 50 fly, and 400 IM. She also got a bronze medal in the 100 back. As the team’s only grade 12 swimmer representing the team in Moose Jaw, Hansen was a leader and did an admirable job mentoring the less experienced swimmers and getting the younger athletes charged up for relays.
Josie Howse and Cadence Prefontaine represented the team in the girls 11–12-year-old category, coming home with a combined 7 medals. Howse won gold in the 200 IM, 50 free, 200 breast, and also nabbed a silver in the 100 breast. Cadence Prefontaine earned a silver medal in her 50 fly and bronze in 50 and 100 free.
Katherine Hafke, recently turned 14, competed in the 13 & over category and did best times to come home with a 6th in the 200 back, 8th in the 50 back, and 9th in the 200 IM.
These results bode well for the last few months of the 2022-23 season. The team will now be buckling down to prepare for long course meets in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat in May.