MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Moose Jaw Kinsmen Flying Fins are no strangers to winning medals at swim meets -- pick a competition they’ve attended and odds are you’ll see a dozen or so pieces of hardware next to their names.
But to put that kind of performance together at the ManSask Summer Swimming Championship is a whole ‘nother thing altogether.
The annual event features the top swimmers from both provinces -- every competitor must have at least one ‘AA’ level time -- along with a handful of other clubs from throughout Western Canada. That makes for some elite racing, with medals hard to come by at the best of times.
So how did the Flying Fins do during the July 4-7 weekend in Regina?
No less than 19 medals, including 12 gold, leading to both the Saskatchewan Small Club and Overall Small Club titles for the local crew, easily one of their top finishes in recent memory.
“It was definitely one for the books,” said Fins coach Strasser Sankar. “It was in Regina, when usually we have to head to Saskatoon or Winnipeg, so this was kind of home turf for us and it was great to have that happen here since we could send so many swimmers. That was huge for morale with them cheering each other on as well as competing.”
Moose Jaw sent 11 swimmers to the meet this time around, when in past recent competitions fewer than a half dozen made the trip. That led to plenty of points being put on the board throughout the weekend, an absolutely commanding win in the Small Club division and impressive sixth place finish overall.
“We hadn’t won the Small Club overall title in five, six years, so that was huge, especially after we got back into a build phase after 2020,” Sankar said. “To get back up to that point was huge for us. Last year we finished 22nd out of 24 clubs, so this was a huge jump.”
Leading the way in spectacular fashion was Leo Zheng. The record-setting S6 category para-swimmer won no less than seven gold medals, continuing what has been a dominant run in recent years.
It all led to Zheng winning the Philip Clark Award as the meet’s top male para performer.
“He swam really well, and that was great to see, especially to win seven races and end up with the overall award,” Sankar said.
The 17-year-old picked up his medals in the 50m freestyle (37.70 seconds), 100m free (1:24.20), 400m free (6:29.37), 100m backstroke (1:33.96), 100m breaststroke (2:05.13), 50m butterfly (1:03.99, personal best) and 200m individual medley (3:56.84).
After a slew of near misses in recent ManSask meets, Mateah Purdy finally broke through with three gold medals and four in total. It was a heartening showing for the 17-year-old as she nears the end of her Fins career.
“She’s had a lot of fourth place finishes over the years at Man/Sask, but this year she got through in amazing fashion with two gold and a relay gold,” Sankar said. “It was really exciting to see her do so well, especially since next year is her final year before she heads off to college. It’s great she’s starting to peak now, since that will open a lot of opportunities for her.”
Purdy won gold in the 100m breast (1:18.66) and 200m breast (2:52.08) in addition to a first-place finish with the Team Sask relay foursome. Purdy also won bronze in the 50m breast (36.00).
Cole Hrechka had himself a meet to remember as well, bringing home seven medals -- two gold, four silver and a bronze. The 14-year-old’s gold medals came in the 50m breast (33.66) and with the Team Sask relay, while his silvers were in the 50m back (33.16), 100m back (1:13.17), 200m breast (2:47.18), 200m IM (2:47.93) and his bronze in the 50m fly (31.95).
Makaya Arnott was unable to reach the top of the podium, but had a special moment of her own nonetheless -- she touched the wall in 32.32 seconds in the 50m backstroke final, giving the 17-year-old a Western Canadian championship standard time and a bronze medal.
Every Fins swimmer who took part in the event had at least a top-12 finish.
Molly Mack reached seven main finals and was fourth in the 100m free and 200m free, just missing a medal. Caleb DeLong (200m fly) and Emily Lin (100m back) each had fifth place finishes, while Libby Hunt was sixth in the 200m breast.
Adam Lazurko cracked the top eight in three races, finishing sixth in the the 100m fly to go along with seventh in both the 50m and 100m back. Rylan Montgomery was seventh in the 200m breast, and Rowan Gray took 12th place in the 200m free.
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