Six gold medals
Grand Pré swimmer hopes to keep on a roll at senior provincial meet
A member of the Wolfville Tritons Swim Club has her sights set on achieving excellence in the pool following a stellar performance at junior provincials.
The Wolfville Tritons Swim Club hosted junior provincials June 24- 26, and 16- year- old Sophie Bekkers of Grand Pré came out of the meet the top female swimmer age 15 and up, winning gold in every swim she competed in.
These included the 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 400m freestyle, 200m individual medley and the 50m butterfly. Bekkers’ times qualified her to go to senior provincials.
Bekkers said her performance surprised everyone – even herself - at juniors and recognizes there will be stiff competition at the senior level. But she loves swimming and enjoys the competition. She’s been a member of the Tritons for four years.
“It’s a lot about you and your performance but then it’s also a team, too. There’s an awesome environment,” Bekkers said.
Time and patience
Bekkers puts a lot of work into mastering her strokes and technique. She said it’s important to keep your mind on your own race.
“It’s kind of you and the clock when you’re in the water and it’s hard to kind of block everyone else out,” Bekkers said.
She’d taken a few swimming lessons before joining the Tritons but had never competed - she didn’t even know what the butterfly stroke was before joining the club. She started in the intermediate group and progressed quickly through the At last month’s swimming provincials, Sophie Bekkers won gold in every category she competed in. levels.
Bekkers said the junior provincials were a great meet for her and she got several best times. She realizes that you can’t swim your best at every meet, but “that one was good,” she said, and instilled a lot of confidence.
Swimming isn’t only physical, she adds: there’s a lot of mental preparation involved and swimmers have to work on staying positive. Bekkers added that she tries not to worry about the competition being bigger or taller.
“You kind of have to get rid of that and focus on what you’re doing and just think about how hard you’ve worked and that, pretty much, you can do it. You just have to put all of your effort in,” Bekkers said.
Eye on the future
Looking to the future, Bekkers might like to swim for a university team, perhaps Acadia, once she finishes high school. However, she isn’t in a huge rush for her time with the Tritons to come to an end.
There’s a lot of camaraderie amongst Tritons swimmers, she says. Although it takes a lot of individual effort, Bekkers enjoys being around friends and they help her perform better.
“It’s awesome, everyone is really supportive and you make a lot of new friends,” Bekkers said.
She said the quality of the coaching is great too. Although Moira Milward hasn’t been coaching with the club for very long, Bekkers said she’s helped her and the other swimmers a lot.
“That’s a huge part of it, having a really good coach,” Bekkers said.
She played a lot of sports over the past few years, but said that after she tried swimming, it “just sort of stuck.”
She’s played basketball and soccer and was involved in gymnastics and running. After she moved to Grand Pré with her family, the proximity to Acadia’s indoor pool and the Tritons club made the option of competitive swimming even more appealing.