Eight members of the the Swift Current Barracudas swim club had stellar performances at the 2017 Long Course Prairie Championships on March 24-26 in Saskatoon at the Shaw Centre.
Elliot Duncalfe, Griffin Duncalfe, Reid Ewert and Evan Ewert took home a combined six medals.
Elliot’s time of 21:12.42 in the 1500-Metre Freestyle got her first gold medal at the championships, while Reid’s time of 19:45.43 in the 1500-Metre Freestyle also got him his first gold medal as well. Both swimmers set new club records in the 11-12 age group.
“This is a very proud moment for us,” said coach Gary Cheung.
Griffin Duncalfe captured his first silver medal on the first night at the championships meet in 100 Metre Butterfly with a time of 1:10.98, only 0.01 second faster than Raphael Munoz, who was out-touched by Griffin.
Griffin’s bronze medal came on the second evening from 50 Metre Butterfly with a time of 31.81 and another silver medal from 200 Metre Butterfly with a time of 2:43.18. All his butterfly events set new club records in 11-12 boys category.
These four swimmers were not the only ones to impress at the Prairie Championships.
Veda Gottselig set four new club records in the 50 and 100 Metre Freestyle and 50 and 100 Metre Backstroke in 11-12 girls.
Leah Sletten set five new club records in 50, 200 Metre Freestyle, 50, 100 Metre Backstroke and 200 Metre Individual Medley in 10&U girls.
Evan Ewert set a new club record in 50 Metre Breaststroke in 11-12 boys.
Quinn Mittelholtz set a new club records in 50, 100 and 200 Metre Freestyle in 13-14 boys.
Jo Carleton had personal bests in the 100, 200, and 400 Metre Freestyle, and 50 Metre M\Backstroke. Her 100 Metre Freestyle also met ManSask qualifying standard.
“They are unstoppable. It goes back to the dedication and the hard work they’ve spent in workouts. That’s for sure,” noted Cheung.
The Barracudas have already begun preparing for their next Championships goal, which will be ManSask Long Course Championships held in Winnipeg, Manitoba in early July.
