Waves win team title
For the first time in their club’s history, the Medicine Hat Waves are provincial champions.
The Waves took home the small team award from Swim Alberta’s Spring Championships this past weekend in Edmonton, largely on the performance of Jaiden Riddell.
Riddell, 12, accounted for 37 of the Waves’ 47 team points. By comparison, the second-place team from Fort McMurray only amassed 41 points.
Riddell won silver medals in his 50 and 100-metre backstroke and the 50 freestyle, then took third in 50 breaststroke. His time of 27.38 second in the freestyle is in the top 10 in Canada for his age group this year and he already had the second-best 50 back by a 12-year-old this season.
That’s not to say other Waves didn’t help win the title – Riddell’s points alone weren’t enough. Thirteenyear-old Aaron Kruger made four event finals, finishing fifth in 200 individual medley, seventh in 50 free, ninth in 50 butterfly and 10th in 50 back. Berlin Mastel, 12, was seventh in 50 back and 50 free. Seventeen-year-old Ana Nozewski and 13-year-old Trintiy Shilka also competed, with Nozewski making a trio of B finals.
Alberta Marlin Aquatic Club had eight swimmers at the event too, led by 14-yearold Emily Schlenker’s fourthplace finish in the 100 back. Schlenker was also fifth in the 50 back and sixth in the 200 back.
Marlin finalists included Delrae Vetter (sixth in 800 freestyle) and Mikaela Wong (fifth in 50 free). Nick Jones, Brandt Swaren, Kristin Hollingworth, Madison Hunt and Alaina Rissling also were in the mix at the provincial event.