A trip out of the province garnered two Foothills Stingrays some just due recognition.
Stingrays teammates Summer Fedor and Montana Dobry earned the rare distinction as 10-year-old racers to boast Youth Recognition Status after polishing off a meet to remember at the Kelowna AquaJets Invitational meet earlier this month.
“They’re ranked in terms of how they stack up against the rest of Alberta,” said Stingrays head assistant coach Emma Hesterman. “It’s top five in Alberta stacked against the top fives in the rest of Canada.
“They have a certain time standard and it’s pretty hard to meet.”
It’s also a clear indication of a swimmer’s versatility from freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke to butterfly.
“It makes me feel very special to get it,” Fedor said.
Dobry, who admitted she wasn’t previously aware of the Youth Recognition honour prior to achieving it, has quickly realized just what an accomplishment it is.
“We’ve never really made it this far and we’re really happy to make it this far,” Dobry said. “I was just trying to get an 11-year-old A-time.”
Both swimmers also attained the 11-year-old A-time standard swims despite only being 10 and are off to the Provincial Championships later next month.
Closer to home, a trio of Stingrays took a step in their swimming careers.
Fifth year Stingray Molly Penn earned her first meet-qualifying-time with a breakthrough performance in the 100m IM at the Dino Cup at the University of Calgary.
“I was doing the race and saw my time,” she said. “So I started to pick up my pace.”
The MQT earns the 10-year-old a ticket to the Age Group Trials next month in Lethbridge.
Fellow Stingray Xander Zwanepoel also established his MQT, earning the honour at the Spring Fling in the 400m freestyle in the 11 and under boys division. Ten-year-old Abby Thiele notched a pair of A-time standard swims in the 50m and 100m butterfly in Kelowna to skip trials and move onto the Age Group Championships.
Some of their more experienced teammates also enjoyed a fruitful trip to the Okanagan.
Fifteen-year-old Finlay Knox and Justin Lisoway walked away as the aggregate winners of the Kelowna meet in their age group while Grade 12 Holy Trinity Academy student Jotham d’Ailly finished as the top performer in the 16 and over boys division.
Lisoway established a new meet record in the 100m backstroke for good measure.
“The kids just did really well,” said Stingrays head coach Todd Melton. “For that time of the year, I was impressed.”
Currently in the calm before the storm stage of the season, Foothills’ athletes are raring up for the Summer Games Trials on June 10 followed by the Age Group Trials one week later in Lethbridge in advance of the Provincial Championships from June 30 to July 3.
For more information go to foothillsstingrays.com
