Whitehorse Glacier Bears swimmer Cassis Lindsay took in a bucket load of accomplishments at the B.C. AAA Long Course Championships over the weekend in Richmond, B.C.
Lindsay swam personal best times in all of her events, won three medals and set a new Glacier Bears record.
“I was really impressed by all of her swims,” said Glacier Bears coach Kayla Yeulet. “She worked really hard each day to make sure she got up and swam best times in finals, which doesn’t always happen as you get to an older level.
“She’s very mature for her age and very focused on her training… She sets a great example for her sister and the other club members.”
Competing in the 11-and-under division, Lindsay set a club record of one minute, 18.04 seconds in the 100-metre backstroke en route to silver. The 11-year-old also won silver in the 100-metre freestyle (1:07.45) and a bronze in the 200-metre backstroke (2:44.55), an event she captured bronze in at the AAA short course championships in March.
She also made two finals, taking fourth in the 50-metre freestyle and eighth in the 200-metre individual medley.
Lindsay was joined at the meet by two Glacier Bear teammates, Haley Braga and little sister Rennes Lindsay.
“I was really excited to take the three girls down. Rennes was a last-minute qualifier, so it was exciting to have another swimmer,” said Yeulet. “I was really impressed by the quality of their behaviour and attitudes at the meet and how they supported each other.”
At nine years old, Rennes was the youngest swimmer at the AAAs in the 11-and-under division.
Rennes placed 28th in the 50-metre freestyle with a personal best time of 36:35. She also made a final, taking seventh in the 200-metre butterfly, the event she qualified for the AAAs in two weeks ago at the AA championships, winning silver in the event and setting a club record.
“She only swam a couple races because she’s quite young still and just raced (two weeks ago), and we didn’t want to put too much pressure on her,” said Yeulet. “I think she had a really good time and was really excited about the whole thing. She enjoyed the experience and it was a really good learning experience for her - for all three of them I think it was a learning experience.”
Braga, who was swimming in the girls 15-year-old division, made one final, placing sixth in the highly competitive 200-metre freestyle with a time of 2:15.51.
She also snagged 11th in the 800-metre and 13th in the 100-metre freestyle events, and 20th in both the 100- and 200-metre backstroke events.
Unlike her teammates, Braga stuck around for an extra day to compete in an open water distance event. Swimming in the three-kilometre race for girls 14-15, she finished eighth.
“I know Haley was working really hard on her training before the event, for both her freestyle and backstroke, so I know she was really excited about that race,” said Yeulet. “I know she wasn’t as happy as she could have been at the end of the day - Haley is probably her toughest critic.”
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com