The Cochrane Piranhas had a great showing at the Alberta Summer Swimming Association (ASSA) Region E Regional Championships this past weekend (August 12 and 13).

Over 340 swimmers from Calgary, Cochrane, Okotoks, Canmore, Didsbury, and High River participated in the two day event at Respol Centre which saw swimmers vying for top spots to secure a placement at this weekend's provincial races (August 18- 20) in Edmonton.  The 34 Cochrane Club members had some excellent placements in both the preliminary and the final heats, says Breanna Hendriks, Head Coach of the Cochrane Piranhas. "There was a lot of best times, so that was amazing. Everyone improved themselves; kids qualifying that we didn't anticipate qualifying and a lot of break through swims."

One of the top highlights for Hendriks as a coach was 13 year old Bria Michalski who did a swim off at the end of the meet. "They duked it out and the other girl was leading for basically 75 of the 100 metres and then Bria came back and won it by 2 tenths of a second in the last 25. I was blown away. The whole team was there cheering for her it was amazing energy we had."

While, Hendriks is still waiting to hear the final number of swimmers qualifying for provincials she says everyone is swimming to their potential. "There is a lot of heart going into what everyone is doing, that is what I love to see. At the end of the day it is about what you put into it and I want them to finish feeling like they accomplished something."

This next week qualifying Piranhas will hit the pool Tuesday through Thursday as they hone in on racing strategies in preparation for the upcoming weekend. "Dives, turns, takeovers, all the little finer stuff. We'll start the week off with a little bit of volume to get back into it and then go down as we get closer to provincials."

For those that did not qualify their season is now over but Hendriks shares the future looks incredibly bright for the spring/summer swim team. "Coming up we we have a great group of kids...boys and girls. We are quite even gendered coming up so it is so awesome, the opportunity for our club is amazing."

A list of bronze to gold medal swims is below and a full list of results can be found here.

  • Ben Barclay – placed 2nd in the boys 11 and 12 year old 50 metre Butterfly; and 3rd in boys 11 and 12 year old 50 metre Backstroke and in the 100 metre Individual Medley event. 
  • Isabella Barreto-Waringer received a bronze medal for her  3rdplace finish in the girls 9 and 10 year old 100 metre Freestyle.
  • Rylee Bashow placed received a gold medal  in the girls 7 and 8 year old 25 metre Freestyle, and bronze in the girls 50 metre  Freestyle
  • Aedan Carnegie received a silver for the boys 7 and 8 year old 25 metre Butterfly and a bronze in the 50 metre Freestyle
  • Kaitlyn Eiserman received a silver medal for her swim in the girls 9 and 10 year old 200 metre Freestyle
  • Nicole Gross received a bronze medal for the girls 13 and 14 year old 100 metre Butterfly
  • Bria Michalski had an exciting meet with a 2nd place finish in the girls 13 and 14 year old 100 meter Breast event which resulted in a swim off with another swimmer due to an exact tie and while it was a close swim off Bria powered through this tough event to win the second time around as well.
  • Kennedy Michalski received a silver medal in the girls 15-17 year old 100 metre Breast event. 
  • Sarah Nusl had an outstanding race and achieved three gold medals for her races in the girls 15-17 year old 200 metre Freestyle; 100 metre Freestyle and 50 metre Freestyle while taking home a silver medal in the 100 metre Backstroke.
  • Caebri Smith took home his share of hardware with a bronze in the boys 7 and 8 year old 25 metre Butterfly; a gold in the boys 50 metre Backstroke and a silver in the boys 25 metre Backstroke.
  • Aaron Swedlo took home bronze in the boys 9 and 10 year old 100 metre Freestyle and in the 200 metre Freestyle.  
  • Catherine Swedlo received a gold medal for her 12 and U 400 meter freestyle swim; and a silver for her 200 metre Freestyle
  • Connor Swedlo took home a bronze for the boys 15-17 year old 100 metre Freestyle; 50 metre Backstroke and 50 metre Freestyle events.
  • Eric Swedlo had an amazing race with a gold in the boys 15-17 year old 100 metre  Freestyle; 100 metre Breast; and 50 metre Breast events.
  • Evan Thibodeau had an outstanding race for one of the club’s youngest swimmers achieving a 1stplace in the boys 6&U category for 25 metre Breast and silver medals for 25 metre Back, 25 metre and 50 metre Freestyle. 

In the relay events the club also had some great teams with the following medals:

  • In the girls 10 and U 100 metre Freestyle the team of Sydney Carnegie, Rylee Bashow, Isabella Barreto-Waringer and Kaitlyn Eiserman placed first and received the Gold medal
  • In the girls 17 and U 200 metre Freestyle the team of Kennedy Michalski, Danica Marks, Sarah Zitko and Bria Michalski placed third and took home a Bronze medal
  • In the mixed 12 and U 200 metre Medley Relay Ella Kruger, Josie Powers, Ben Barclay and Quinn Fitzsimmons placed third receiving a Bronze medal
  • In the mixed 17 and U category 200 meter Medley Relay:  Sarah Nusl, Eric Swedlo, Nicole Gross and Connor Swedlo placed 2nd taking home Silver medals
  • In the mixed 12 and U category for  200 metre Freestyle Madisyn Cheverie, Ben Barclay, Josie Powers and Quinn Fitsimmons placed 3rd taking home a Bronze medal
  • In the mixed 10 and U category for 100 metre Medley Relay: Keegan Lewko, Isabella Baretto-Waringer, Kaitlyn Eiserman and Aaron Swedlo placed 3rd taking home the Bronze
  • In mixed 14 and U 200 metre Freestyle, Jake Barclay, Natalie Baretto-Waringer, Max Kruger and Catherine Swedlo placed 3rd with a Bronze medal
  • In mixed 17 and U 200 metre  Freestyle: Connor Swedlo, Sarah Nusl, Nicole Gross and Eric Swedlo took home a 2nd place finish with the Silver medal.