Team effort clinches Kootenay Summer Swim Association Regional Title for Neptunes
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The Nelson Neptunes continue to get better with age.
The Heritage City club stole the show at the Kootenay Summer Swim Association Regionals this past weekend in Colville, Wash., finishing ahead of the rest of the field to claim the overall title.
Neptunes coach Cynthia Pfeiffer said every single Neptune swimmer finished in the top three of their respective individual event, or top two in relay events.
This means the entire team qualified for the upcoming BC Summer Swim Association Championships, August 19-21 in Coquitlam.
“I don’t think it’s our talent in our pool that we can solely attribute our win to,” Pfeiffer said.
“I believe the strong bond our team has, and the care and excitement we have for all of our teammates is what has gotten us through the difficulties of our last few seasons, and has allowed us to still come out on top.”
Pfeiffer said the formula for selecting the winning team at the Regionals was calculated by taking overall points and dividing it by number of swimmers who attended the meet.
Nelson took a clear lead in front of second place Kimberley and West Kootenay rival Castlegar.
Highlights of this meet include Lachlan Bibby-Fox, Kallie Badry, and Jaylen Rushton sweeping gold in their events; Enna Cowan’s four best times; Madeline Holitzki’s first time 200-meter IM and Olivia Cowan’s first place 100 meter Freestyle.
Then there was Morgan Robertson-Weir, Chloe Malenfant, and Jaylen Rushton’s Neptune sweep in 50-meter Butterfly as well as both Division 3 and Division 4 girls winning all four of their relays.
“This little team has a lot of team spirit and I don’t think anything can slow them down,” Pfeiffer said.
Pfeiffer said 13 of the 20 Neptune qualifiters have committed to make the trip down to Coquitlam to compete for the Kootenay region.
She said races to watch for include Jaylen Rushton and Lachlan Bibby-Foxes 50-meter Breaststroke.
The Neptunes, who spent the past few seasons on the road, will be back in the friendly confines of the NDCC Pool next now that renovations to the facility are close to completion.
