PAM DRYDALE
What can be said about this team that hasn’t been said already. It was a great summer to be a Seahorse. All swimmers had a fantastic year, and the final two swim meets were just as amazing, if not better. For many swimmers, the year finished up with the Colville and Regional swim meets.
The Colville, Washington swim meet was held over the July 28-29 weekend. For many past Seahorses, Colville has always been the best swim meet of the summer. That tradition continues. Many of the Kimberley families joined other families from the region and camped in the beautiful Colville City Park. It was an incredibly hot weekend in Colville and we were very thankful for the volunteers both on and off the pool deck. The theme for the Colville Swim Meet was “Find Your Strong” and our seahorses did not disappoint. They all found their strength. Kimberley swimmers brought home 12 medals and were second overall in team points.
Medal winners included: Brooke Stopanski, Oscar Jarvis, Amelia Thompson, Cliff Jarvis, Luke Stopanski, Brooke Burki, Ariana Drydale, Trent Walkley, Kenna Drydale, Jeremy Woods, Kyle Dobi, and Jackson Sorenson. Brooke Burki also set a number of Colville meet records. Way to go Seahorses…Looking fantastic for Regionals.
The annual Regional Swim Meet was held in Trail, British Columbia over August long weekend: August 4-5. To say that the Seahorses swam their hearts out would be an understatement. Swimmers competed in both individual and relay events, and strong performances were handed in by every swimmer from the club.
Individual medal winners are also provincial swim meet qualifiers. The Kimberley Seahorse Swim Club had 15 provincial qualifiers in individual events, and all relay teams qualified for provincials as well.
Individual provincial qualifiers include: Trent Walkley, Dentyn Drydale, Oscar Jarvis, Brooke Stopanski, Luke Stopanski, Kenna Drydale, Ariana Drydale, Brooke Burki, Cliff Jarvis, Finn Bohm, Georgia Polomski, Morgan Dobi, Jackson Sorenson, Kyle Dobi, and Jeremy Woods. Additional team members also qualified for provinicals with the relay teams: Ava Roche, Mia Bohm and Gabby Radke. The Kimberley Seahorse Swim Club is proud to announce that they tied for first place with the Nelson Neptunes for the overall team title at the regional meet as well.
Provincial qualifiers were invited to a KO Regional practice at the Rossland Swimming Pool on Monday, August 6th. Coach Jackson Sorenson said, “I am super excited to have seven of us travelling to Provincials after tying for first place at our regional swim meet. Our swimmers have worked hard this season, and will hopefully shave off some more time from their races while competing for Kimberley and the Kootenays at Provincials.”
The club, parents, swimmers and coaches, would like to wish best of luck to seven of our swimmers who will be attending the Provincial Swim Meet, in Surrey, August 15-19. Good Luck to novice coach Morgan Dobi, Kyle Dobi, Brooke Burki, Brooke Stopanski, Luke Stopanski, Georgia Polomski and coach Jackson Sorenson. We are all so proud of you and know that you will swim your hearts out representing our own club and the larger Kootenay Region Swim Team.