The Creston Wave Swim Club was in the water once again on July 17 and 18, this time south of the border at a meet held in Colville, Wash. More Creston swimmers competed at this meet than any other away meet of the season. Of the 20 athletes who raced for the Creston Wave, seven came home with medals.
Four Creston swimmers competed in the novice six and under category. Danae Damery swam fast, earning herself first place in the 25-metre backstroke, as well as earning a best time. Aleena Ziefflie earned personal bests in two of her races, nearly breaking a minute in her 25-metre butterfly. Easton Severtson, impressively, swam a best time in each of his races. Creston’s fourth novice swimmer, Kaine Gauthier, took off over 25 seconds in his 25-metre backstroke, and got another best time in his 25-metre breaststroke.
Ethan Pelly finished fourth in the Div. 1 boys 50-metre freestyle and 50-metre backstroke. Alex Hopkins finished fourth in the Div. 1 boys 50-metre butterfly, and swam three best times. Callum Ziefflie, also a Div. 1 boy, finished top two in all of his races. Callum’s great races throughout the weekend paid off, as he was awarded the gold medal for his division.
Nadine Persad, Annalise Morris and Natasha Hopkins all competed in Div. 2. Nadine placed eighth in her 50-metre butterfly, and swam two best times. Annalise finished in top eight in three of her events. She even finished third in her 50-metre backstroke. Natasha had a fantastic meet, finishing either fifth or six in all of her races.
Sydney Sheck, Maryn Wiens and Jake Wiens all competed in Div. 3. Sydney finished fifth in the 100-metre breaststroke, and swam three personal bests. Maryn, who has been getting huge best times at every meet, swam three more this weekend. She also placed top 10 in five of her events. Jake finished top three in all six of his events, swam two best times and received the silver medal for Div. 3 boys.
Hayden Persad swam in Div. 4 and finished top six in four of his events. He also swam a best time in all of his events.
Carter Pelly and Kailey Morris both competed in Div. 5. Kailey finished top four in all of her events. Carter finished first in five of her events. In the end, Carter and Kailey were both awarded the silver medal for their division in a three-way tie for second.
Kylee Pemberton and Katelyn Wiens both competed in Div. 6. Kylee finished third in her 100-metre backstroke, and swam three personal bests. Katelyn finished top four in all six of her events, and was awarded the Div. 6 girls silver medal! Katelyn also won the Guts ’N’ Glory 400-metre individual medley race. Each club has one swimmer represent them in the event, and Katelyn won it for Creston.
Coaches Emily and Kieran Simpson both competed in Div. 7. Emily won the silver medal for girls, and Kieran won the gold medal for boys.
Overall, the Creston team finished in sixth place for team points. There are now only two weeks left until the regional championships. This coming week will be the hardest week of training during the season before athletes begin to taper. For most, regionals will be the next meet; however, Callum and Aleena Ziefflie will be travelling to Golden for a meet next weekend.
—CRESTON WAVE SWIM CLUB