The Okotoks Mavericks left an imprint over the capital.
Okotoks’ 15 swimmers brought home two youth recognition awards, one FINA high point award, a qualification for Canadian trials, 15 club records and 95 per cent best times from the Alberta Spring Championships in Edmonton.
Finlay Knox earned the FINA overall points award as the highest male finisher in the meet for his performance in the 200m IM. Knox finished Top 1 in the youth recognition award with Megan Deering earning Top-10 status.
“The world record would be like 1,000 FINA points and anything slower than that you get less and less points,” said Knox. “It’s basically a way to separate out each stroke, you’re able to compare every event along with the world record.
“I won that FINA award with 805 FINA points in 200m IM.”
The Foothills Composite student took provincial gold in 200m fly, 100m and 50m backstroke, 200m IM, 100m freestyle and silver in 100m breaststroke.
Justin Lisoway swam to silver in 50m breaststroke and 100m backstroke and was bronzed in 100m breaststroke and 200m IM.
Deering rounded out the medal performances with her bronze in 50m
breaststroke.
Adding top-10 finishes were Deering, Lisoway, Summer Fedor, Lorenzo Ford, Caden Kotowich and Abby Thiele. Top-20 finishers included Tess Barber, Jada Cotnam, Justin d’Ailly, Domenic Griesser, Emma Hicklin, Mackenzie Hurd and Keton Murphy.
The peak swim season continues for the most experienced Mavericks.
Knox, Lisoway and Deering are off to the Canadian Trials, competing against the best in the country on April 2-7 in Toronto.
The Mavericks trio, along with Ford, are in Edmonton from April 10-15 for the 2019 Speedo Western Championships.
Elsewhere, Thiele, Fedor and Kotowich earned invitations to Swim Alberta’s Discover Alberta camp next month in Cochrane based off their performances at the Alberta championships.
“With this Discover Alberta camp they’re actually picking kids that have made several finals from that younger age group,” said Stingrays head assistant coach Emma Hesterman. “I had three swimmers that made more finals, that’s why they were selected. They get to spend a morning in a couple of weeks swimming and having a couple of classes.”
For Kotowich, 13, it’s an exciting opportunity to learn.
“I hope to get better on all of my strokes, not just one or two of them,” Kotowich said. “To just have fun.”
Thiele echoed the sentiment, hoping to gain insight on technical improvements to her stroke.
Fedor will get the chance go back to a Swim Alberta camp after doing so in the fall.
“It’s really fun and interesting,” she said. “I pretty much learned everything from what we need to do to accomplish in swimming, things in strokes and how to get better.”
Just getting to the Spring Championships is an accomplishment in itself.
Several of the Mavericks punched their ticket to the big dance by qualifying through the Southern Alberta Provincials two weekends prior at Calgary’s Repsol Sport Centre.
“This was probably one of the most exciting provincials we’ve had in a long, long time,” Hesterman said. “I had three swimmers come out and make champs from that meet which is very unusual, we normally get one or none because it’s so tight.”
To get from provincials to championships swimmers either have to win an event or earn a championship time.
Keton Murphy chose the former route and did so in dramatic fashion in the 100m IM.
“He was fifth going into the 100m IM,” Hesterman said. “To get to champs you can win an event, he went from fifth and won the gold medal.
“It was a phenomenal swim, the last swim of the night and made champs purely on winning.”
Kotowich earned three championship time standard swims, including a gold at the 50m butterfly, at provincials and went onto make three finals at the spring championships.
Hurd achieved three championship time standards and broke a club record in the 11-12 girls 50m freestyle that had stood for over seven years.
“I was very pleased with their training leading up to champs and into provincials and champs and how they came in at the end,” the coach added. “It proved to them that being self-motivated and driven and being dedicated to their training, how well they can do.
“It was phenomenal, two great meets.”
For more information on the Okotoks swim club go to okotoksmavericks.com
