It was a solid start to the season for the 麻豆社国产Pirates swim team.
The team hit the pool at Brennan Park for the first swim meet of the season on Sunday (May 29) and head coach Allyson Corbett said she was pleased with her young swimmers' performances.
"I thought it went really well and we had tons of best times set," she said, trying her best to speak up after becoming close to losing her voice during the meet. "We had pretty much all of our swimmers take some time off from last year's numbers and it was a really good start for us."
Eli Chappell, who posted provincial qualifying times in the boys Division 4 200-metre individual medley and 50-metre butterfly, led the way for the Pirates. Chappell also won the 50 freestyle and had strong times in the 100-metre breaststroke, backstroke and freestyle races in his division.
Pirates team member Sarah Dale also had a good meet, winning the girls Division 6 50 freestyle, second in the breaststroke and third in the 100 backstroke.
Wyatt Pedersen had a busy and successful meet winning the boys Division 6 50 freestyle, the 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle. Pedersen also placed third in the 50 butterfly and fourth in the 100 backstroke.
Elly Hoskin, who won the girls age six and under 25-metre backstroke and butterfly, and Anders Farr, who won the boys Division 3 100 freestyle, rounded out the Pirates race winners at the meet.
Also participating at the event during the media swim-off was The Chief's own Meagan Robertson, who went head to head in a 50-metre race against Mountain FM's Sabrina Pearson. Robertson, who had a significant size disadvantage on the long-legged Pearson, succumbed to the radio host by a margin of three seconds. The performance of the two attracted the attention of Corbett.
"It was good to see the media out there at our meet," she said. "I thought it was a pretty good race and I was impressed by their flip turns."
She also thanked the volunteers and parents for their help making the meet run so smoothly.
"Big thanks should go out to all the volunteers and parents who helped make this meet a success," she said. "Everyone stepped up and it made the meet a lot better."
The Pirates will hit the road for the next couple of months, with a meet scheduled for every weekend for the remainder of the spring and for summer. They will travel to Coquitlam for a meet on Friday and Saturday (June 3 and 4), followed by one in Richmond the next week. The season is all building up to the regionals, which take place in North Vancouver in early August and the provincials, which take place in Richmond in mid-August.
For more information on the Pirates, visit www.squamishpirates.com.
