From the Muskoka Aquatic Club (MUSAC):
The Muskoka Aquatic Club (MUSAC) embarked on our first team travel meet in nearly 4 years. 40 of our best athletes competed in Brantford from December 16th – 18th at the Team Showdown swim meet. Competing against the biggest clubs in Southwestern Ontario, our small club swam BIG surprising everyone, even ourselves. Each team in attendance selected their best athletes to compete for total points over 3 days of racing. On Sunday night, when all the points were tallied, MUSAC placed 3rd overall (Men’s and Women’s combined) and our Women’s team placed 1st.
After 3 seasons of interruptions due to Covid, our swimmers faced a number of challenges to get competition ready again. They rose to every challenge, far exceeded my expectations and their own in Brantford. Each swimmer in attendance contributed to the success of the team, through personal bests, top 8 finishes, event wins, and cheering/support of teammates. This is the proudest I’ve ever been of a team performance in my coaching career.
As a group, we achieved 94% best times and broke 4 long-standing club records. Sam Rix, Matthew Kuusk, Aidan Spiers, and Owen Jibb set a new club record in the 15 & Over Men’s 200m Medley Relay. Owen Jibb set a new club record in 15 & Over Men’s 200m Breaststroke in a time of 2:20.99. Aidan Spiers broke the 15 and Over Men’s 200 Fly club record in a time of 2:12.37. As a 15-year-old, competing in the 15-16 age category, Hayley Oke came away with 3 event wins, 43 total points, scoring in all of her 6 individual races, and a new club record in the Women’s 15 and Over 50m Freestyle with a blistering time of 26.69. Sophie Rix scored the most individual points with 55, earning 3 event wins while medalling in all 7 of her races. Madison Wall had break out performances across the board, scoring 45 total points and finishing top 4 in all of her races. When all of the awards were collected, there wasn’t enough room in my coaching bag for our haul of medals and ribbons. What an incredible meet!
Looking forward, we have many more exciting competitions on the calendar. At the beginning of February, we will be competing in Huronia Regional Champs. In late February and early March, we will be competing in Ontario Festival Champs, Ontario Youth Junior Champs, and Ontario Swimming Champs. In mid-March, we have several swimmers competing in Eastern Canadian Swimming Champs. After all of our success in Brantford, I’m filled to the brim with excitement and optimism for our upcoming competitions. With the continued dedication, determination, hard work, and grit of our athletes, the sky is the limit for our small club! Let’s go MUSAC!
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