BY IAN THORPE
Their 51st year of operation was yet another successful one for members of the Nanaimo White Rapids. The summer swim club that trains in the outdoor Kin Pool in Bowen Park capped off its season by having no less than 53 swimmers qualify for the B.C. Summer Swimming Association provincial championships in Kamloops.
Courtney Poulin, Vanessa Yates and other members of the coaching crew could certainly be proud that a number of club swimmers claimed provincial gold, including Cam Laturnus, Stewart Stephen, Quinn Todd, Nick Bennett, Peter Morch, Cadence Jones, Haley Bennett and Dylan Barberie.
Just as important, though, were the individual successes that all club members achieved as they strove to improve themselves at practices and meets throughout the season. Those successes were celebrated at the club’s annual general meeting and awards night and my thanks to incoming club president Laurel Laturnus for passing along the highlights…
Among the awards handed out were those for most improved swimmers over the course of the season. Recipients were Eva Blackburn and Eden Segal from the six-and-under age group. Lauren Kingsley and Wyatt Hessler were chosen from Div. 1 and Reese Deschambault and Connor Blackburn from Div. 2. Winners from Div.3 were Aia Segal and Jack Mace and Ella Page and Noah Osborne from Div. 4. Most improved from Div. 5 were Jessica Tonella and Duncan Boychuk. Div. 6 winners were Sonja Ferg, Connor McIntyre and Jackson Say, while named as most improved in water polo was Reid Schellinck.
Amariah Zult and Hudson Palmer were recognized as the top novice swimmers.
Sportsmanship awards were presented to Claire Kingsley and Marcus Evans from junior divisions and Isabella Richards and Nick Sertic from senior divisions. Outstanding swimmer awards were given to juniors Jones and Morch, and seniors Bennett and Cam Laturnus.
Club swimmers named as outstanding from the various girls’ divisions were Lila Barberie from U6, Raquel Evans of Div. 1, Danielle Barberie of Div. 2, Nadia Sertic of Div. 3, Nyah De Pol of Div. 4, Kayley Morch from Div. 5 and Kennadie Sheppart from the O category.
Boys’ winners as outstanding in their division were James Boulding from U6, Malcolm Davey of Div. 1 and Aiden Teller of Div. 2. Dylan Barberie was the winner from Div. 3, Gus Johnson from Div. 4 and Stephen of Div.5. Quinn Todd was judged to be most outstanding from the Div. 6-8 boys.
Work ethic awards were given to club members Nick Bennett, Arada Barclay, Isabelle Parsons, Bryan Moore, Sophie Peer, Jackson Hessler, Kathryn Say, Kaleb Collishaw, Drew Duffell, Laura Mace, Clare Boulding, Faith Telfer, Matt Perkins, Elijah Collishaw, August Oltmann, Audrey Palmer and Abigail Kurytnik.
Hannah Duffell had the highest overall attendance on the season at 99 per cent.
The final award of the evening, the Marge Dudley Award named in honour of the club’s first president, was presented to Ava Johnson for her overall dedication to the sport.
Whatever your sport, a reminder in closing to play your hardest, play fair, and show good sportsmanship.