The Bear Facts - 24th December 2021

The season this year has seen the Club move from strength to strength. We have over 350 active competitive swimmers in the Club and are anticipating even more to join in the new year. It has been fantastic to see the strength of numbers in our Development programs. It is the first time in 5 years we have had access to our historic Bonnie Doon and Jasper Place pools. We are hoping that the City will continue to grant more access to lane space during our training times to expand the scope of our programming. Starting January we will also have Confederation Pool back online and we have our coaches lined up and ready to deliver a fantastic program here as well. The addition of the YMCA centres has been fantastic for the Club and swimming in Edmonton. The coaches are loving working with the kids at the YMCA and we are hoping a large number of these swimmers will be excited to continue the sport competitively over the coming seasons.  

Our performance groups have been on fire the last few meets with some incredible results (see below). There is a nice buzz on pool deck as kids get back into competitive swimming and we are all looking forward to the Long Course season and the championship meets to follow.

I would like to take this time to thank our parents for all their support for the Club and their kids. From volunteering, chaperoning and encouraging we know the swimmers couldn't be where they are in the sport without your continual sacrifices and support.

On behalf of Keyano we wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Go Bears

Paul

Sofie Rong	Reanna Gazarian
Jonathon Schata	Ailish Mackenzie
Emmerson Ottenbreit	Sam Pretzlaff
Marco Slavkovski	Anjali Arvind
Ayla Mahony	Jonathon Williams
Iris Boreyko	Lazlo Handzic
	Lucas Kato

The 2021 Ontario Junior International as held from the 10 – 12^th December in Toronto. This meet is the premier age group championship in Canada over the winter. Keyano sent just a small team of 6 swimmers to compete. The team performed incredibly well and posted some amazing results.

Night 1

Emma Finlin on night one swam to a massive best time in the 1500 freestyle with a 16:12. She was less than 3 seconds behind the Canadian Olympic representative in Tokyo. Emma’s time now sits at number 6 all time in Canada and is a new provincial record. In the same race Naomi Slee placed 4^th in a huge 16:56.27 dropping 37 seconds off her previous best time! Gabi Dunn swam an amazing 800 Free right on her best time and placed 9^th.

Night 2

Some fantastic 200 Freestyles started the evening with Christey Liang placing 7^th in a best time 1:59.07. Teagan VanderLeek, Emma Finlin and Naomi Slee all qualified for the B final and raced their way to some amazing best times. Emma won the final with a 2:00.65, Teagan 2:01.56 and Naomi 2:02.64. In the next event the women’s 100 Breaststroke Meghan Berrigan earned her way to the A final and swam a 2 second best time 1:12.78. In the final event for our swimmers Emma Finlin carried the torch with a blistering 4:44.80 dropping nearly 8 seconds off her best time and setting a new Club record. This record was one of the oldest on the books dating back to 1984!

Night 3

Emma kicked off the night with a Bronze medal in the 400 free in a huge best time of 4:09.44. Naomi Slee swam brilliantly in the same A final and placed 8^th with a monster 4 second best time 4:16.55.  Next up was Teagan and Christey in the A final of the 50m Freestyle. Teagan nabbed the bronze in a best time and Club record 25.48 with Christey also picking up a best time placing 7^th in 25.96. Next up was Meghan Berrigan who placed 8^th in the A final of the 200m Breaststroke with a big Pb in 2:34.99.

Night 4

The final evening saw some massive best times yet again. Christey Liang grabbed bronze in the 100m freestyle in a best time 55:03 with Teagan 5^th in 55.43. Emma destroyed the field in the B final of the 200IM dropping 5.5 seconds off her best time and racing to a 2:16.17. The final event of the evening was another massive best time by Meghan Berrigan in the 50 Breaststroke placing third in 33.57.

PCS Christmas Cracker

50 Keyano swimmers attended the 19^th annual PCS Xmas Cracker swim meet in Victoria BC.  It was great for so many swimmers to be able to travel outside the province and race different competition again. 

First night of finals was only 3 events but the bears came ready to race! In the 13&u girls category, Sophia Chin was in a close race for first and ended up finishing second in the event. Not far behind was Bridget Evans in 3^rd with a 3 second best time. Elle Carey finished in finished in 5^th who also had a 3 second best time in the event earlier that day.  In the 14-15 category Kailee Crane who entered the day with a time of 2:18.23, manager to drop to a 2:11. 98 and finished 3^rd in her age group. In the 16&O age group Shayne Bowie finished 3^rd and Kendel Przyswitt finished 7^th, both with personal bests. Over in the mens category in the 14-15 Merik Phillips finished 6^th and Andrew Chilton finished 6^th, both got under the 2:05 mark for the first time in their young swimming careers. In the 16& over category Cameron Chan finished in 6^th place with a time of 1:55.05

IM was the next event. Highlights included 4 second drop from Kiera Crane putting her in 9^th. Eleanauh Phillips had a personal best time of 2:24.52 finishing in 2^nd in the 14-15 girls. Behind her was Alyanna Garcia who had a 6.21 best time! On the men's side Tanner Cole won the men's 200 im with a person best of 2:10.97. Cohen Chan finished 3rd and Andrew 5^th.

Finishing out the session was the girls 1500 free. Josie O’Kelly had 22.46 second drop putting her in 2^nd place. Shayne Bowie won the 16&over category in 17:21.27 achieving her first Olympic Trials cut. Kendel dropped 1:10.53 from her previous time and finished 2^nd, also picking up a western cut on the way. 

On night 2 we had strong swim across the board from all our finalist in the 400 free. Briget Evans finished 4^th in the 13&U girls. Natalie Chow finished 4^th in the 14-15 age group. Shayne Bowie 3^rd, Alyssa Jerace 7^th and Angela Corsaro 8^th. The 3 boys who competed in this event Tanner finished 1^st, Andrew 5^th and Merik 6^th all swam personal bests. 

200 Back saw a deep field of Keyano swimmer who finished top 8. 13&U girls included Tekla 3^rd, Elle 4^th and Kiera 6^th. The 14-15 girls led by Alyanna who got under the 2:20 mark for the first time finished 2^nd. Behind her was Eleanauh also in a best time and Maya in 4^th. On the men's side Graham Pardo finished 7^th with a 7.83 best time. Tanner Cole won the 14-15 age group. 

Other strong swims of the night included Graham winning the 100 breastroke. Following up that winning performance was Cohen Chan who also won his age group, with Michael Li finishing behind him in second place. We had a set of 3^rd places with Sophia Chin, Kailee Crane and Claire Francis all moving up positions in finals. Gabriella Schenk finished in 7^th place. 200 fly was a strong event on the mends side. Jonathan Williams finished 3^rd in the 13&u. Tanner Cole won the 14-15 in 2:14.74 continuing his best time streak in the meet. Our last winner of the night was Cameron Chan at 2:04.59 which was also a best time for him.

Last night of finals was kickoff by Eleanuah Phillips in the 400 Im dropping almost 8 seconds wining her age group. Kailee finished 3^rd with a best time herself. Mattea Lastovka finished 5^th in the older age group with a 7.94 drop in time. On the men side Tanner picked up another victory with training partner Cohen behind him in 2^nd place. In the 100 fly Elle Carey finished 2^nd with a best time of 1:08.57. the 14-15 girls had a strong showing with 3 girls in the A final, Alyanna Garcia in 3^rd, Brooke Anderson 5^th and Vida Wagenseil 8^th.  On the mens side, Graham finished 5^thwith a 4 second drop and Jonathan in 7^th place. Cameron placed 4^th in the older age group with a best time of 56.7. 100 back was another strong event for our girls. In the 13 &u, Tekla finished 2^nd, Elle 4^th and Kiera 6^th. In the middle age category Alyanna placed 2^nd, Brooke in 7^th.

The meet was a great experience for all the swimmers. They were able to swim a variety of events and used opportunities to improve from heats to finals. Travel always plays a factor into the performance and our swimmers handled it very well.

JP Fiset Invitational

At the final meet of 2021 our Edmonton Keyano Bears raced to 2^nd place overall at the JP Fiset Invitational for a big finish to the first portion of the 2021-22 season. Twenty-one teams from Alberta and BC participated in the competition over three and a half days of heats and finals racing.

Keyano swimmers smashed 187 best time swims and placed on the podium fifty-seven times. Big swims were put in by all age groups with several new Alberta Championship and Western Canadian qualifying times being hit throughout the weekend’s events.

The 11 and 12 yr girls were very strong all weekend led by Elle Carey who placed first in the 400 IM and 800 free, second in the 50-100 fly, 100 free and third in the 50 free. Jasmin Lawal was also a double event champion placing first in the 100-200 breaststrokes, second in the 200 IM and third in her 50 fly. Sophia Chin and Kiera Crane was also strong with Sophia taking second in the 50 50 and third in 100 breaststroke while Kiera was second in the 400IM and third in her 200 back. These girls all teamed up to win the 4x50 medley relay on Sunday night.

The 13 and under boys squad was led by Graham Pardo who is coming on strong. Graham placed 2^nd in the 200 breast and 3^rd in the 50 breast and 200 back. Graham teamed up with Truman Vincent, Justin Cole and Jake Fairey to place second in the 4x50 free relay.

The 13-14 girls group came away with thirty-four new best times and were led by Danica Gouglas who placed third in her 50 breast and then teamed up with Tekla Rachmielowski, Natalie Chow and Bridget Evans to placed 7^th in the 4x50 medley relay.

Our boys 14-15 group were led by Cohen Chan and Tanner Cole. Tanner was the Aggregate winner in the age group with wins in the 400-1500 freestyles and 200-400 IM’s while also taking second in the 200 free and 100 breast. Cohen was next with three wins in the 50-100-200 breaststrokes, a second place finish in 200 IM and third in the 400IM. Andrew Chilton was rock solid all weekend taking third in the 1500 free and 4^th in the 400 free. Noah Thompson had a big swim in his 200 fly placing second and was 4^th in his 100 fly. These four all teamed up to place 3^rd in the 4x50 medley relay. 

Reid Maxwell was dominant in all his events for the Boys multi-class winning all his events, 100 back, 100 free, 100 breast and the 50 free. A big weekend for Reid!

The 16 and over boys team consisted of Hugo Nguyen, Spencer Mackenzie and Cameron Chan. These guys came away with nine new best times and Cameron hitting the podium for 2^nd in the 200 fly and 3^rd in the 100 fly and 200 free. Hugo and Cameron teamed up with Tanner and Cohen to place 3^rd in the 4x200 free relay.

The 15 and over girls category was very strong for Keyano with several big podiums swims. Emma Finlin was Tops in the 400-800 freestyles and 200 IM while taking 2^nd in the 200 breaststroke. Teagan Vander Leek hit the top of the podium for wins in the 50 free and 100 fly, and a second place in the 100 free. Meghan Berrigan was also a winner in the 200 breaststroke and took third in the 100 breast. Christey Liang placed 2^nd in her 50-100 and 400 freestyle events, Gabrielle Dunn was second in both the 100 and 200 fly, Naomi Slee was 2^nd in the 800 free and Alyanna Garcia took second for her 100 back. Also hitting the podium were Shayne Bowie 3^rd in 200-400-800 freestyle and Eleaunah Phillips who took third in the 400IM. Alyanna, Meghan, Christey and Teagan teamed up to win the 4x100 medley relay. Teagan, Naomi, Emma and Christey won the 4x100 free relay and 4x200 free relay. Great racing everyone!!!!

Kinsmen Gold

by Desmond Lam

After a season with less training time in the pool and some stoppages the Gold group has finally hit their stride this season. Average attendance has been great, and the swimmers are heading in the right direction. The skills of the swimmers in the group have improved a lot in these past 4 month. They have been showing a lot of consistency in body position and kicking. A big highlight for the group in November was the aerobic capacity kick test of 6x100s free kick. Many swimmers surprised themselves with very good results and were happy they completed the challenge. The swimmers have attended 3-4 meets so far this season. We started with 50’s at Oktoberfest, some 100’s at Poppy and everyone who attended Candy Cane integrated some 200’s into the program. Racing has been getting sharper with more practice and I hope to have more swimmers in the group prepared for more mid to long distance events in the new year! 

Junior Provincial

The Junior Provincial group has had a very strong start to there 1/3 part of the season. The swimmers have taken advantage of the bigger group environment and have gelled together quite nicely in their day-to-day training. Transitioning into the Junior Provincial group is about learning a lot of new skills but also a bigger demand on performance not expected in their development groups. Swimmers are asked to get comfortable with uncomfortable skills and this group of swimmers have been open to their new challenges. We have showed significant improvements in not only times but race execution since the Oktoberfest swim meet. The swimmers took advantage of the 3 racing opportunities in December and displayed their hard work from training. Swimmers in this group have worked their way to the being some of the top swimmers in the province. I am most please to see the number of swimmers racing well in different strokes and IM events. This is a good indicator for a well-rounded type of swimmer which is important for development at a young age. I look forward to seeing our swimmers carry this strong momentum as we head into our long course season and provincial meets!

Junior National

By Alex Wallingford

   Junior National has had three very strong meet weekends in a row. While we are waiting for JP Fiset results to be loaded up we can look at the entire group's performances for Christmas Cracker and Candy Cane. You all hit 129 best times out of 137 events swam, fantastic! Group swimmers have several top 10 in Canada for their age swims and we picked up a bunch more Champ times as well as first ever Western times, well done gang!

   Training will continue from Tuesday Dec.21-23 then we will break for the Christmas holiday and resume Dec.27-Jan.2nd with New Year's day off.

   Test sets of 800 free time trial, 5x100 free @ 2:30, 400 kick, 10x100 free kick will continue along with the return of the fan favourite 10x300 @ :10 rest A2 test. 

   Keep getting your sleep, homework done and stay on the good nutrition, possibly adding a bit of vitamin C and D for these winter months. You have all been really good staying on track, let's keep it going.

Jasper Place Silver

By Emma Carry

Over the last few months at Jasper Place, the Silver swimmers have been working hard and I have seen great improvements from them all.  We have been especially focusing on our drop down push offs and underwater streamlines, that have improved so much from the beginning of the season. We have also been doing lots of body position kick and lateral kick that has really paid off in our kick challenges. There are quite a few speedy kickers in the group :) All of Silver’s hard work was displayed at the Candy Cane meet, where we saw lots of big best times and for some their first ever 200 free. Going into the next session, we will be starting to incorporate more 50s into practice and really focus on our flip turns and touch turns. I hope everyone enjoys their break and gets some well deserved rest. Can’t wait to see you all on deck in the new year!

Meadows

GOLD and SILVER

We have been working hard on our streamlines, and breakouts and it really showed at the last swim meet. I saw so many of you go into a turn with someone and come out ahead by not breathing on your first stroke. We have almost all of our eligible swimmers qualified for festivals and I am sure we are moving towards everyone being qualified before the end of the year.

-Matt

BRONZE

We have been really working on our kicking and mastering streamlines off every wall. Our kicking skills really shined in the kick test set this session. It was great to see many of you attend your first swim meet and use the skills we have been working hard to use consistently in practice in a race setting. We look forward to coming back after the break and continuing to build some confidence in breaststroke and butterfly too. 

-Kellie, Mattias and Luc

It has been so great to be back in the pool consistently this year. I know that we all missed it and the energy you swimmers bring to the pool every week make it a real pleasure to come to the pool. It was a lot of fun to see you all on deck training, racing and reaching new goals. Enjoy your break and we are really looking forward to the rest of the swim season. 

The Meadows Coaches