Tritons compete at Spring Invitational, all-star meet

BY JOHN DECOSTE

jdecoste@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

The Wolfville Tritons Swim Club found itself in action in two different provinces during the May 9-11 weekend.

Eleven Tritons took part in the Spring Invitational long course swim meet hosted by the Halifax Trojans, with numerous new personal best times posted and all 11 swimmers managing at least one top 10 placing.

Ceilidh MacPherson, 16, swimming in the 15-and-over girls’ division, won the 400 freestyle and 400 Individual Medley; was second in the 50 free, 200 free, 1,500 free and 200 backstroke among eight top 10 finishes.

Her younger sister Kristen MacPherson, 14, wasn’t far behind. Kristen won the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly in the 13-14 girls’ division, was second in the 800 free and had six top-10s in all.

The third member of the ‘swimming MacPhersons’, 12-year-old Rebecca, also had a strong meet, contributing four seconds and a pair of thirds to the team effort.

Kassandra Parsons and Pete Porskamp also recorded first-place finishes. Parsons, 11, won the 400 IM for 11-12 girls’ and had five other top-seven finishes. Porskamp, 16, won the 1,500 free and had six top-eight placings in all.

Stella Champion, 12, also had a strong meet, placing third in the 200 free and turning in five top-seven swims overall.

Brendan Vibert had five top-10 finishes, Shauna Manning and Carlena Eye each had four, Adam Deutsch had a pair of top-10s and Kaily Schofield managed one.

Training camp in Ottawa

Meanwhile, Tanisha Bezanson, Luc Boudreau, Kayla Boudreau, Nicole Campbell and Colin Vibert all travelled to Ottawa the same weekend for a three-day training camp and two-day meet as members of an Atlantic Canada All-Star team.

Tritons’ head coach Chris Stone accompanied the team to Ottawa as head coach. He said Team Atlantic “posted its strongest finish in the meet against swimmers from Ontario and Quebec all-star teams since the camp and meet began in 2004.”

The Wolfville swimmers, he said, all swam new personal best times as well as recording top-three placings in several events.

Stone noted that Swimming Canada Youth Development and Mentor Coach Deryk Snelling and camp head coach Dave Johnson, both coaches of multiple world record holders and Olympic medalists, each commented on “how strong the (Atlantic) team looked as a whole and the quality of racing from our region’s swimmers.”