AGI (Etobicoke) - meet update
In addition to our first championship meet of Spring/Summer, Region of Waterloo Swim Club had a contingent of athletes racing at Age Group International this past weekend in Etobicoke. AGI is a long-standing meet, and typically attracts several of the fastest athletes, both from in-province and out-of-province, as athletes begin to prepare for Provincial and National meets over the next 2 months. Time standards for this meet are quite tough, particularly given the double age groups [12&U, 13-14, 15-16, 17&O] with a few standards rivaling OYJ qualification times.
This year’s edition saw athletes represented across 48 teams, including teams all over Ontario, a Quebec-based club, a Saskatchewan Tour Team, and several University-based athletes, in addition to athletes who have represented Canada at International level competitions.
By meet format, the 13-14yr old athletes were challenged by preliminary and final sessions running back-to-back on each of the three days. Typically, athletes have a few hours downtime between sessions to eat and get some rest, however at AGI some of our athletes had as little as 15 minutes between the end of their last race and the beginning of the final’s session. Despite this challenge, ROW athletes fared well with many stepping up in finals to equal or better their preliminary swims!
A few items which stood out about AGI:
· STAND-UP AND RACE – It can sometimes be overwhelming to stand up against athletes much older, bigger or faster than yourself, but ROW athletes were not deterred with 10&unders staying strong in a 12&under category, as well as our 17&overs racing against university students, some of which have represented Canada at World Junior competitions. No matter the event, no matter the competition STAND-UP AND RACE!
· #ROWNATION – The afternoon session saw ROW athletes from four different training groups with quite the spread in age and experience, all of which were hugely supportive of one another. It didn’t matter what ROW athlete was in the water, those in the stands couldn’t help themselves from cheering on their teammates. They also had the most energetic cheer each session of all clubs, with the best “SHISHBOOM SHISHBOOM”’s to date!
At the end of the meet, ROW finished in 8th place behind some of the largest teams in the province and walked away with 75 personal bests, 10 medals [Gold – 5, Silver – 3, Bronze – 2] and a brand NEW OYJ Qualifier - Big Congratulations to Kentaro D. for qualifying to race at Ontario Youth-Junior Championships in the 200fly, two weeks from now at the Markham Pan Am Centre!
Summary
· 1x NEW OYJ Qualifier
· 75 Personal Bests
· 10 Medals [Gold – 5, Silver – 3, Bronze – 2]
#ROWNATION #GOROWGO #ROWRISING
AJ
