Moose Jaw Kinsmen Flying Fins competitors Damian Chartrand and Blaze Colenutt turned in a stellar showing at the recently concluded North American Indigenous Games, and they have the hardware to prove it.
Chartrand picked up three silver and two bronze in the Dalplex Pool while Colenutt brought home three bronze from her events during the week-long multi-sport event.
Chartrand, 17, competed in the 19-and-under division and picked up his trio of silver in the breaststroke races.
It all began on Wednesday, July 19 when Chartrand put down a time of 2:37.79 to claim second place in the 200-metre breast and followed up with bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay.
Chartrand then enjoyed a three-medal day 24 hours later, winning silver in the 100m breast in 1:11.49 and landing second in the 50m breast in 31.09. He then capped his NAIG success with a silver medal showing in the 4x50m medley relay.
Chartrand was joined by Saskatoon’s Jacob Cameron and Landon Dubiel along with Nipawin’s Staley Oftebro for each of the relay medals.
He also just missed two more medals after finishing fourth in both the 1,500m free and 50m butterfly to go along with a fifth-place showing in the 50m free.
Colenutt, 15, took to the pool in the U16 division and joined Saskatoon’s Victoria Darling, Prince Albert’s Ali Diehl and Regina’s Mira Kiefer for each of her medals.
That included bronze in each of the 4x50m free relay, 4x50m medley relay and 4x100m free relay.
Colenutt also finished fifth in the 800m free, sixth in the 100m fly, seventh in the 50m back and eighth in the 400m free.
Saskatchewan has a history of dominating at the North American Indigenous Games, and 2023 was no exception. The Land of Living Skies finished atop the standings with a total of 176 medals, including the third-highest total of gold medals at 52 to go along with the most silver and bronze with 62 in each category.
B.C. finished second with 53 gold and 160 medals, while Ontario was third with 128 medals, including 55 gold. Wisconsin was the top-finishing non-Canadian entity, winning 56 medals.
