QUALICUM BEACH — From the pool comes word Oceanside’s Ravensong Aquatic Centre (RAC)AC Breakers sent nine swimmers south of the border to the Far Western Long Course Championships.
Leading the team were Breakers’ skipper John Campbell and assistant coach Gary Cheung. The meet, said Campbell, “is huge with almost 1,300 swimmers from all across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.”
As a team, the Breakers ended up in 17th place out of the 137 teams entered.
Leading the charge for the Breakers was Maran Kokoszka who won the very first event (200Bk) with a personal best time of 2:20.12.
Joanna Redenbach then came sixth in the 100fr final with a time of 1:03.09, and Haley Bennett seventh in the 400IM at 5:33.28 while the Breakers’ 15&0 4X100Free Relay team placed seventh.
Day two saw Kokoszka place fourth in the 100Back with a PBT of 1:05.90, and the Breakers’ 11&12 girls 4X100 Medley relay placed fourth as well — only 3/100ths of a second off a bronze medal.
On day three, Redenbach (aka Jojo) placed seventh in the 50 Free at 29.52, and the Breakers’ 11&12 4X50 Free Relay earned the bronze at 1:58.62.
Bennett followed that up with a second place finish in the 1500 Free at 18:44.69, which qualifies her for the Western Canadian Championships next February.
On Day four, Laura Romkes powered her way to third in her 200 Fly with a time of 2:22.16. Younger sister Megan earned third in her 200 Fly at 2:28.83 — both times were personal bests. In the 400 Free final, Bennett placed sixth with a time 4:50.47. The 11&12 girls 4X 100Fr relay came in fourth.
On the fifth and final day of the big annual meet, the finals in the 100 Fly saw three Breakers in their respective age-groups swimming.
Megan placed fifth in the 11-12 girls with a PBT of 1:08.53; Richelle was seventh with a PBT in the 13-14 Girls going 1:06.70, and Laura was fourth at 1:06.14.
The Breakers’ last swims of the meet saw their 11-12 Girls 4X50 Medley relay team place sixth, and Angus McGibbon place 17th in his 800 Free with a PBT of 9:40.66.
“Overall it was an incredible international experience,” said Campbell.