They're already Island champions, and they’ve got the talent and team spirit that could take them to the top.
The Nanaimo White Rapids are in Coquitlam today (Aug. 18) to compete at the B.C. Summer Swimming Association championships.
Nanaimo will be bringing over a huge contingent of 70 athletes, all of whom had to qualify for provincials.
“A lot of them really had to fight for those spots…” said Byron Trajan, the club’s co-coach. “We have a lot of fast swimmers coming into this weekend swimming at provincials looking good.”
The White Rapids finished in first place at the Ray Newman Regional Championships earlier this month at the Nanaimo Aquatic Centre and it wasn’t close – the Rapids swimmers earned 5,822.5 points, besting the runner-up Sidney Piranhas by 1,870 points.
The Rapids have now won 11 straight Island titles and they’re setting their sights higher. They had a breakthrough in 2015 with a second-place finish overall at provincials, and they have a chance at another special accomplishment a year later.
“We’ve got every reason to believe that this year will be a great year, as well, at provincials,” Trajan said. “We’re chasing first place overall. There’s at least five or six clubs out there that are quite competitive and I think at our level and it’s going to come down to the wire. It’ll be really exciting.”
sports@nanaimobulletin.com