It was like swimming uphill sometimes for the 22 young Elliot Lake swimmers who journeyed to Markham last weekend to take part in the Markham 2019 Ontario Team Challenge. Elliot Lake Aquatic Club (ELAC) team officials told ElliotLakeToday they harnessed team energy and support while being outnumbered by both atmosphere and competitors. They swam against more than 300 other swimmers from 31 clubs across Ontario.
Not only did the local swimmers overcome those challenges, but some club members also posted multiple personal bests. They included Tie Ryan who consistently shaved multiple seconds off his times, including eight seconds off his 50m butterfly event, and 35 seconds off his 200 medley swim.
Owen Angus continued his outstanding season including shaving 16 sec off his 50m breaststroke.
Kyle Beaulieu earned personal best times consistently over the weekend by shaving his 100m breaststroke time by 11 seconds.
Oceane Christy improved in each of her events, including 16 sec from her previous time in the 100m freestyle event.
Evi Tiessen, who had been away from the competitive circuit for a while, earned the opportunity to swim finals. Emma Young also made finals for her efforts.
Payton Stirling improved her 100m freestyle by six seconds.
Madelyn Meawasige finished ahead of her previous times.
Reilly McGonegal knocked time off from her previous entry times consistently, swimming her 200m breaststroke in 4:25.00, one minute faster than her prior result.
Kendra Beaulieu consistently shaved off between six and seven seconds in each in her events.
Joely Angus improved her 200m backstroke by 28 seconds.
The coaches told ElliotLakeToday they were very happy with the swimmers’ efforts and the swimmers were quick to recognize the calibre of coaching that keep them on track. They added that an event of this calibre could not have been positively competed in without the club mentorship. That included crowd noise which was very apparent each time an ELAC red bathing cap was on the blocks.