One of the Nanaimo White Rapids’ star swimmers was the most rapid, ever.
Stephanie Taekema set a new B.C. Summer Swimming Association record earlier this month at provincial championships in Richmond en route to a gold medal in the 100-metre breaststroke.
Taekema, competing in the Div. 8 women’s division, finished the final in one minute, 13.64 seconds. Her time was more than a second faster than the old B.C. record of 1:14.83 that had stood since 2004.
The other major highlight of provincials was the Div. 6 girls’ 200-metre freestyle relay race, as Catherine Carriere Der, Hayley Price, Darby Walker, and Ellen Taekema teamed up for gold. Other provincial champs include Ayden Jager, Tayden De Pol, Breanna Kossey and Chris Yates.
Top-five results include:
Cat. 1 - Ayden Jager, third, 100-metre IM, first, 50m freestyle, third, 50m fly, first, 100m free; Kira Edwards, fifth, 50m free, second, 50m backstroke, third, 50m back, fifth, 100m free; Hana Edwards, fifth, 50m butterfly.
Cat. 2 - Nanaimo White Rapids girls, fifth, 200m medley relay, fifth, 200m free relay.
Div. 1 - Tayden De Pol, second, 50m free, first, 50m back, second, 100m free.
Div. 4 - Breanna Kossey, second, 50m free, first, 50m fly, third, 100m free.
Div. 5 - Chris Yates, third, 200m IM, fifth, 50m free, first, 100m back, fifth, 100m breast; Riley Prout-Holm, fourth, 50m free, fourth, 100m fly, fifth, 50m fly; Nanaimo White Rapids boys, fourth, 200m medley relay, second, 200m free relay.
Div. 6 - Nanaimo White Rapids girls, first, 200m free relay.
Div. 8 - Gareth Saunders, fourth, 200m IM, second, 50m free, second, 100m breast, third, 100m free; Stephanie Taekema, fourth, 50m free, fourth, 100m back, third, 50m fly, first, 100m breast.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com