KISU girls place second at provincials
KISU Swim Club members continue to make waves on the competitive indoor swim circuit this season.
On the strength of a second-place finish by the girls and the boys coming in 11th place, KISU finished fifth overall out of 42 teams at the B.C. Winter Provincials in Victoria.
They finished just two points back of the third-place entry.
While mainly an individual event, according to KISU head coach Tina Hoeben, it was very much a team effort by her young swimmers that resulted in the strong showing.
“I think it’s a group of people, a whole group of people who are super coachable, very willing to train hard,” said Hoegen. “But there’s another kind of energy they have in the pool. It’s very extraordinary for a group of teenagers that are so cohesive and very supportive of each other.
“There’s so many friendships that cross the age barrier. When you’re in Grade 12 you don’t hang out with Grade 9s, but in this group they do.”
The 26 swimmers was the largest contingent from KISU to compete in the B.C. finals. The team also had the most paraswimmers, four.
That included Coldstream’s Jacob Brayshaw, 21, who swims under the KISU umbrella with two other Vernon paraswimmers.
In Victoria, Brayshaw set five new Canadian records.
The paraswimmer who has muscular dystrophy made his national team debut in 2021 at the World Para Swimming Championships in Portugal where he finished seventh in his event. That year he was also the first paraswimmer ever named as the Senior Swimmer of the Year at the B.C. Swimming Awards and Hall of Fame Banquet.
“I’m super proud that we have such a large para group that’s alway been very important to our club,” said Hoeben.
Also in Victoria, Jack Dodds did some record breaking of his own in the boys 11-12 division. He broke KISU records in the 50-metre butterfly, 100-metre breaststroke and 50-metre freestyle.
He had three silvers in Victoria in those events.
But it was the girls 13-14 division who piled up the points for KISU.
“These girls are now 14 and they are our strength in the pool,” said Hoeben. “There were four times where we came first and second and that’s pretty unheard of for any club to do that at that level of meet. It’s great to have that kind of depth in the pool.”
Between them, Marlee Winser and Taryn Weatherhead combined to win more than a dozen medals between them.
Both swimmers agreed with their coach about the importance of competing as a team.
“I think it makes a really big difference when you have a really supportive group around you,” said Taryn. “They push you and it inspires you to try harder when you have other people trying as hard and I think for us it was being really confident.”
Marlee agreed: “I think it’s really helps to have that support, especially if you don’t have a great race. It really picks you up.”
Hannah Rutten was another girls division team member who three medals and was a member of the team relay team.
The team also finished in first place earlier this season, winning the TRU meet in Kamloops ahead of the host club and Kelowna.
KISU hosted a small meet Sunday and a number of team members will be training this week for the 2023 Speedo Western Canadian Championships in Calgary March 16-19.