Elkford swimmer Chris Bissonette brought home eight medals after taking the plunge at the B.C 55+ Games in Salmon Arm Sept. 10 to 14.
Bissonette raced a few close events. He claimed gold in 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke and 100m medley, and narrowly missed first place in a few other races, sometimes by as little as a tenth of a second. He took silver in the 25m butterfly, 50m backstroke and 50m breaststroke.
Bissonette said the silver-medal events could have gone either way, and a shaky start was enough to tip the scale.
"It's tense. You get nervous and you get a little pumped up. Your adrenaline runs. It feels great when you're finished. It's like doing a big run somewhere," he said.
He also got silver on two group relay races with teammates David Poggemiller, Steve Briggeman, Steve Horton, Bob Wilkins, Scott McKee and Don Metz from the Okanagan and South Central B.C.
Bissonette is a former Elk Valley Dolphins Swim Club coach and he's been attending the games since 2012. He and Cheryl Place of Boswell, B.C. were the only two swim athletes to represent the Kootenays this year. Place claimed bronze in the 400m freestyle.
100-year-old Betty Brussel of New Westminster, B.C made headlines at the games after completing an 800m free swim and winning multiple gold medals. Bissonette said that she's an inspiration to him and that he plans to continue with swimming for a long time to come.
Bissonette said he's been trying to encourage more participation from locals, due to a lack of sporting opportunities for older athletes.
"If you look at the meets, there's probably less than a dozen the whole year, and that's if you go to a couple provinces," he said.
He's also keen to get more adults out to Elkford's pool for recreational swims.
"If there were more swimmers, there'd be more support for the local pools," he said. "Elkford has a very nice pool, very friendly staff, but I think they could use more adults swimming in the lane swims."
For Bissonette, participating the games is less about achieving the podium and more about keeping in shape and socializing and meeting people from other communities.
"We have a great time," he said. "It's a three-day meet. There's lots of medals and dances and get-togethers. They're a very friendly group. It's like a holiday."
