It’s pretty much become a given these days that any time the Moose Jaw Kinsmen Flying Fins take to the pool, they’re going to see all sorts of personal-best swims.
The May 6 weekend at the Saskatoon Lasers Invitational was no exception -- and the 16 local competitors who took to the pool also brought home their share of medals in the process.
All told, the Flying Fins swam a total of 79 percent personal bests and brought home 10 medals while battling a field that included 350 swimmers from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta.
Leading the way was the Fins female swimmer of the meet Emily Lin, 13, who in addition to lowering her lifetime best in every one of her events saw some incredible time drops -- including 20.22-seconds in her 100-metre butterfly and 12.18 seconds in her 100m backstroke. The latter was one of four provincial AA time standards Lin achieved over the weekend, with the others coming in the 100m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 100m backstroke and 50m fly.
Lin’s AA times qualify her to compete in the prestigious Man/Sask Championships in Saskatoon in early July.
When it came to outright winning, no one had a better meet than Cole Hrechka, 11. He continued his rapid ascent in the sport with medals in all eight of his events, including gold medal showings in the 100m fly, 200m fly and 50m breast, the latter of which he knocked 13.28 seconds off his previous personal best.
Onyx Penner, 9, was the male swimmer of the meet for the Fins, as despite competing in a 50-metre pool for the first time in his young career, he still managed personal bests in seven of his eight swims, including a 4.72-second improvement in his 100m freestyle time.
Also posting top-three finishes over the weekend were Mateah Purdy, 14, with a third-place showing the 100m breast, and Xander Penner, 11, who touched the wall third in the 200m individual medley.
Lin was joined by Abby Bowles, 12, Elizabeth Colenutt, 14, Rowan Gray, 14 and Dayna Newberry, 15 in recording personal best times across the board. Newberry had an especially impressive showing in the 400m free, taking an impressive 103.70 seconds -- or close to two full minutes -- off her time in the endurance swim.
The Fins are right back in the pool in a week’s time as they will take part in the Regina Optimist Dolphins Michelle Moore Invitational during the May 20 weekend.
