-by Angie Abdou
On the weekend of March 16, 14 Dolphins traveled to Calgary for the 2024 Spring Invitational.
Hot off her recent podium finishes at Montana State Championships, Layla Rella once again executed outstanding performances to earn gold medals for all 7 of her swims. Despite being an 11-year-old competing in the 11-12 age category, Rella dominated the competition. In her 100 fly, she swam a blazing 1:15.75, nearly 9 seconds faster than the second place finisher. That race also earned Rella a club record, breaking the previous 11–12-year-old 100 fly record of 1:16.30 set by Leah Soetart.
Jackson Radkie, the club’s most senior swimmer, also had an outstanding meet. He has recently switched to a sprint-based program and this weekend’s results confirmed that the new training regime works. Radkie set best times in all 5 of his events: 50 fly, 50 back, 50 breast, 50 free, and 100 IM. He also delighted fans by breaking 3 club records. In his 50 back, Radkie swam a 31.03 to best Brock Tomlinson’s record of 31.66. In fly, Radkie squeaked under the 29 second barrier, posting a 28.99 to beat Tomlinson’s record of 29.65. Again, in the 100 IM, Radkie swam a 1:08.99 to push past Tomlinson’s previous record of 1:09.93. In Radkie’s most impressive swim of the weekend, he snuck under the 26 second barrier for the 50 free, posting a finishing time of 25.93. All 7 of Radkie’s swims put him on the podium, with gold medals for the 50 back and 50 fly.
Other Dolphins to earn medals at the 3-day-meet were: Matthew Cassidy (bronze in the 200 free, gold in the 400 free), Katherine Hafke (bronze in the 50 back, gold in the 200 IM, bronze in the 100 back, and gold in the 400 free), Adam Hayden (silver in the 100 breast, silver in the 200 IM, bronze in the 100 IM, and bronze in the 400 free), and Abbi Wannamaker (bronze in the 100 fly and silver in the 400 free).
The brother and sister duo of Nola and Archie Locker qualified for their first finals. Nola Locker added to the excitement by finding herself in a swim-off for the 50 breaststroke and winning by nearly a full second to get herself yet another personal best time. Other Dolphins who qualified for finals were Madden Hempel, Brooklyn Irving, Cadence Prefontaine, and Oliver Williams.
The Dolphins’ next meet will be in Nelson on the first weekend of April.