Eight young swimmers from the Ladysmith-Chemainus Orcas Swim Club wrapped up their season by competing in a highlight-filled June Jamboree meet in Duncan in mid-June.
“All in all, it was an awesome meet,” said coach Aisha Alsop. “It’s the final meet for the little guys, and we had a great turnout — lots of parents, lots of cheering. It was a good way to end the season.”
Alsop says it was neat to see how her swimmers have progressed from the beginning of the year, when they couldn’t dive and could barely swim a full length without touching the bottom, to diving in and swimming from four to eight lengths by now.
This was the first meet for Keizo and Clifton Tollefson, and Alsop says it was great for them and great as coaches to see them compete.
At the June Jamboree, held June 14 at the Cowichan Aquatic Centre, 13-year-old Hubert Wong finished first in the 100m breaststroke and in the 50m breaststroke, and he finished second in the 50m butterfly and was fourth in the 50m freestyle. He improved his times in every single race, taking a full 16.89 seconds off his time in the 100m breaststroke.
Eight-year-old Cole Porter won both the 25m backstroke and the 25m breaststroke and earned third-place finishes in the 25m freestyle and the 50m freestyle.
Aiden Jeffries, who is seven, won the 25m freestyle and also won the 100m breaststroke in his first race at that distance. He finished second in the 50m backstroke and fourth in the 50m freestyle.
Ten-year-old Clifton Tollefson won the 25m butterfly and also finished fourth in the 50m breaststroke, seventh in the 50m backstroke and 11th in the 50m freestyle.
Keizo Tollefson, who is eight, earned second-place finishes in the 25m backstroke and the 25m butterfly and finished fourth in the 25m butterfly and the 25m breaststroke.
Twelve-year-old Kyele Murray was second in the 100m individual medley and the 100m breaststroke, and he finished third in the 100m freestyle and fifth in the 50m freestyle.
Grace Dice, who is nine, earned a third-place finish in the 50m butterfly, and she also finished fourth in the 50m backstroke and ninth in both the 100m breaststroke and the 50m freestyle.
Twelve-year-old Louise Wong finished seventh in the 100m breaststroke, eighth in the 50m breaststroke and 13th in the 50m freestyle, improving her times in every single race.