The Cochrane Piranhas had a busy weekend, as the group competed in their second swim meet of the year in High River on June 15 and 16. The meet had more than 300 swimmers from Calgary, Cochrane, Airdrie, Didsbury, Okotoks, High River and Canmore with the Piranhas sending 45 athletes to compete in the meet. Cochrane swimmers had some amazing results and lots of personal best times as the team looks to work toward higher level competition in the near future. Ben Barclay placed first in the boys U12 400 metre freestyle and 50 metre fly, while also placing third in the 100 metre and 50 metre freestyle events. His brother Jake Barclay finished second in the boys 15- to 17-year-old 100 metre backstroke, third in the 200 metre IM and third in the 50 metre backstroke. Natalie Barreto-Waringer took home bronze in the girls 13- and 14-year-old 400 metre freestyle and 100 metre breaststroke with young swimmer Candence Bashow placing first in the girls six and under flutter board. Sam Cheverie placed second in the boys six and under 25 metre backstroke and third in the 25 metre freestyle and Kaitlyn Eiserman finished second in the girls nine- and 10-year-old 50 metre freestyle and second in the 25 metre butterfly. She also won bronze in the girls U12 400 metre freestyle. Quinn Fitzsimmons placed second in the boys U12 400 metre freestyle with Kyla Fritz won gold in the girls 15- to 17-year-old 100 metre backstroke as well as third in the 200 metre IM. Jamie Harris won gold in the girls 15- to 17-year-old 200 metre IM and second in the 50 metre fly ... with the pair of Ella and Max Kruger won silver in the girls U12 400 metre freestyle and third in 100 metre backstroke and first in the boys 13- and 14-year-old 200 IM, second in the 400 metre freestyle and third in the 50 metre breaststroke respectively. Tegan and Travis Lester-Olivier placed second in the girls nine and 10-year-old 100 metre freestyle and first in the boys nine and 10-year-old 100 metre freestyle, second in the 200 metre freestyle and third in both the 50 metre backstroke and 25 metre fly. Jade Macosky placed first in the girls 15 to 17-year-old 400 metre freestyle and second in the 200 IM with her teammate Bria Michalski placing third in the girls 13- and 14-year-old 50 metre breaststrokes. Grace Pawliuk placed third in the girls seven and eight-year-old 50 metre backstroke while Josie Powers finished second in the girls 11- and 12-year-old 200 metre IM with Mackinley Smith placing first in the girls U6 25 metre backstroke and second in both the 25 metre freestyle as well as the 25 metre flutter board. Aaron Swedlo placed third in the boys U12 400 metre freestyle and 200 metre IM with his sister Catherine placing second in the girls 13- and 14-year-old 400 metre freestyle. Evan Thibodeau wrapped up the individual achievements by placing second in the boys seven- and eight-year-old 25 metre breaststroke. The Piranhas also won six medals in the team relays, as the team won three silver and three bronze medals. Head coach Breanna Hendriks was pleased with how her 45 athletes performed at the event. "We've seen lots of improvements since the start of the season until now. We're about a month and a half in, which is our mid-season," Hendriks said. "It's kind of crazy to think we're at this point of the year and how fast it goes by ... but it's been amazing to see how quickly the kids have improved including this High River meet." Hendriks expanded further on the improvements the coaches have seen from the team as well as highlighting a few standout performances. "For a lot of the younger kids and even some of the older athletes, this was the first time they've ever swam the 400 metre freestyle in competition. That was a big achievement for them and we also had a lot of personal bests which shows the improvements we've made," Hendriks said. "We expect improvements and every kid has different goals. Some kids get really into it, they get ultra competitive and do really want to see time improvements ... then for the younger kids, we're just trying to teach the technical side of the sport." The two-day meet in High River was an opportunity for the swimmers to work on personal best times as they work towards Regionals and Provincials in August. "We're just continuing the training to make sure everyone is ready to compete. Especially for the younger kids it's all about improving the technique and learning about the full strokes," Hendriks said. "We have a swim meet in every weekend of July except the long weekend, so it's going to be quite busy here in the next little bit in order to be prepared for those high level competitions."
