BY Zander Glatz
Salt Spring Stingrays
Continuing their successful run of performances, the Salt Spring Stingrays competed in Campbell River on the July 6-7 weekend.
Being mid-way through the season, this meet was used to practice and refine different aspects of racing. This included technical skills, such as turns and underwater breakouts, as well as racing strategy, like how to pace or when to make a move on the competition. The group as a whole was effective at applying and learning from this practice as we gradually transition into championship season.
While making these preparations the Stingrays were able to take home an astounding amount of top-three finishes: Zoe Sanchez Wickland (Div. 3 Girls) earned third in the 50m breaststroke; Druehn Pinney (Div. 3 Boys), first in 100m IM, second in 50m freestyle, second in 50m butterfly, first in 50m backstroke, and third in 50m breaststroke; Aiden Otsubo-Papp (Div. 5 Boys), third in 200m IM, third in 50m freestyle, first in 100m backstroke; Zoey Johnson (Div. 6 Girls), first in 200m IM, first in 100m butterfly, first in 50m butterfly, first in 100m backstroke; Seth Crouse (Div. 6 Boys), third in 50m freestyle, third in 100m butterfly, second in 50m butterfly, second in 100m backstroke, second in 100m breaststroke, and third in 100m freestyle; William Rithaler (Div. 6 Boys), third in 100m backstroke, third in 100m breaststroke; Rylan Burnett (Div. 7 Boys), second in 50m freestyle, second in 100m butterfly, third in 50m butterfly.
Congratulations to swimmer of the meet Layla Girodat, who was enthusiastic and punctual the entire weekend. She swam her first ever 100m IM on her own accord. In the races she had already competed in, she improved substantially. For example, she dropped 10 seconds in 50m freestyle, and all of her swims saw major drops in times. These improvements can be attributed to her impeccable attendance and work ethic.
See this week’s Driftwood for the report from the Nanaimo swim meet that occurred the week before.
The Salt Spring Stingrays are getting ready to host our meet this coming weekend that kicks off with an open water race at St. Mary Lake this Friday. Go Stingrays!
For more on this story, see the July 10, 2019 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.