These are busy times for the RAC Breakers, and the kids don’t mind a bit.
“Busy is right,” Breakers’ longtime head coach John Campbell confirmed with a chuckle when The NEWS caught up with him this week. “This is all part of our season though, and they’re right into it.”
On Feb. 28-March 3 the Breakers were in the mix at the Provincial AAA Championships at Commonwealth Pool in Saanichton, and the swimmers were rewarded with a number of podium finishes.
“Overall it was a younger team than we’ve taken before, but the results show great potential,” said Campbell.
Indeed.
Nikki Biro, 15, grabbed gold in the 100 Free and silver in the 50 Free while sister Elysia Biro, 13, was second in her 50 Free.
What is significant about the medals said Campbell “is that both of these girls have not always been the
top of the pile growing up through the various age-groups,” said Campbell. “They have worked their way up
through the ranks. You do the work you get the results, and they’re great examples of that.”
Haley Bennett, 13, earned bronze in the challenging 800 Free (32 laps of the pool).
“Haley is always a solid performer, consistently placing in the top 8 (finals),” said Campbell.
Sophie Lorette, 10, and competing against girls as old as 12, carved out second in the 200 Fly; Jojo Redenbach, 13, grabbed third in the 100 Fly, and Megan Romkes, 13, touched the wall for second in the 100 Fly and third in the 200 Fly.
Worth noting is that this group of Breaker girls had a terrific season last year in the 12&Under category, and have just now aged up and are among the youngest 13 year olds.
Two week before that (Feb. 14-17), Campbell took 14 swimmers aged 10-17 to the Western Canadian Short Course Championships played out at Saskatoon’s brand new Shaw Centre, a state of the art aquatic facility.
“Not much to report other than a few best times and the experience of one of the fastest meets in some
time,” said Campbell.
All 14 swimmers that made the trip to the city of bridges had to qualify in their respected events.
All this in preparation for the club’s long course season which will start with the World Championship Trials slated for Commonwealth Pool April 2-6.
Laura Romkes, 17, and Maran Kokoszka, 16, are the two Breakers that have qualified to compete there. Both girls competed in the Canadian Olympic swim trials in Montreal last year.
Three weeks after that most of the team will make the trip down Island to the big annual Wavemaker Invitational featuring the top age-groupers from across Western Canada and the Northwestern U.S.