Terrace Blueback Brayden Phillips was at it again at the Smithers Spring Invitational two weekends ago, continuing his streak by winning gold in the 10 and under boys category.
And other Terrace athletes saw medals as well, with Brittney Alfred taking silver – her first medal of the year – in the 11-12 girls category.
Thomas Christensen won bronze in the 15 and over boys category. He says it’s tough to say what was his best race because “my best race of the meet I still hit the bottom of the pool,” he said.
Swimmer Anke deWit was recognized twice at the competition – first with bronze in the 13-14 girls category and also as the overall winner for the girl’s Speed Demon Event. That medal goes to the swimmer with the lowest combined time in all 50- and 100-metre events. She says she went into the competition with winning the speed event as one of her goals.
And the Blueback’s girls were on top of the relay events, taking first place in both the girls 11-12 200-metre medley relay and the girls 13-14 medley relay.
Twenty-two Terrace athletes competed in the meet alongside other nearly 100 other Points North members from Kitimat, Prince Rupert and Smithers. This meet is typically smaller than some of the other meets, and was one of the last short course events of the season.
It was a good confidence builder for the athletes, said coach Mike Christensen, noting that many of them have been under the weather and unable to train and perform as they’d like. But the meet was not without its challenges, as the pool was very warm – probably as warm as the kiddie pool at the Terrace aquatic centre – on Sunday. This hinders the athletes’ visibility and usually means shorter times.
Next up is the Moose Meet in Prince George, a higher level meet where the team will meet some stiff competition. It also marks the start of long course season with 50-metre pools.