Last year’s success at the RiverMonsters’ inaugural swim meet was no fluke. Swim meet #2 has come and gone and Hope is emphatically back on the circuit for Fraser Valley summer swimming competitions.
“Everybody is saying they’re coming back next year,” said club president, Catherine Freimark, Tuesday, after recovering from a busy weekend.
“We only had 10 swimmers last year and this year, we had 24,” she added.
The meet’s impact on the town was palpable.
“We estimate that each swimmer has four or five family members attend, on average, including grandparents,” said Freimark. “There were 288 swimmers, so we estimate there were 1400 to 1500 at the meet — and there were quite a few spectators from town, too.
“When I was walking around town, there were quite a few [local] people giving me high fives,” said Freimark.
A couple of classes of elementary school kids could easily bend a noise meter in the enclosed Dan Sharrers Aquatic Centre. Cheering fans, loudspeakers and starter buzzers brought the din to a whole new level.
“It was very loud for hours, both days,” said the president. “We have some mini-Monsters [under age six] and they were a bit shocked, there were so many people and so much noise. All nine clubs had minis and the coaches could be in the water with them when they swam. They’re so cute.”
MP Mark Strahl was on hand to open the meet at 8 a.m. on Saturday, then he sang O Canada with the kids and stuck around to watch some of the competition.
The Hope Lions were on hand both days for pancake breakfasts and hot dog and hamburger lunches, operating out of the Hope Curling Rink.
“Their proceeds go back into the community,” said Freimark. “For example, they helped two swimmers with their fees this year.”
Project Hope held a fun fair outdoors last year, to give kids and parents something to do between heats. This year, with an unpredictable weather forecast, things were moved inside the curling rink.
“They hosted the ‘Bonkers Games,’ which are giant games that kids loved,” said Freimark. “Bear Aware was also there — and Courtney, the Vancouver Mermaid. She swam during a break, with a mermaid tail on.”
Last year, many visitors were surprised to see the temporary camping grounds between the skate park and the motor sports bowl and some vowed to take part next time. Last year, there were 22 parties camping. This year, 38.
“We were there in my parents’ motorhome,” said Freimark, but others were in tents, trailers and even buses. People had a great time, with teams co-mingling and kids running all around. And BC Protection Services did a great job.”
The only glitch was the weather, for the tenters.
“Both nights, Friday and Saturday, between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m., it was like Armageddon,” said Freimark, whose husband Mike is the club’s head coach. “Then it cleared off and was just fine.”
In the pool, Hope swimmers showed the effect of hours of practice, mixed with tips and challenges from coach Mike and his assistant, Taylor Lees.
Official results were yet to be posted by press time but Catherine used her notes to underline some local highlights.
• Sonya Au-Yeung shaved 14.1 seconds off her personal bests, to grab fifth place in the girls 8&under 50 metre backstroke.
• Matthew Lasser cut 7.58 seconds off his PB in the 50M back.
• Kya Patterson improved her 50M freestyle time by 2.5 seconds.
• Eli Reist cut almost 2 seconds off his PB, to win second place in the boys 8&under 50M backstroke. It was the second-ever competition for Lasser, Patterson and Reist.
• Verena Brysch finished sixth in her two events — at her first-ever competition.
• Violette Freimark placed in the top-three in all six of her races. Placed second in five and third in one.
• Avery Loring placed top-eight in all six of her races.
• Danika Hope placed top-five in all her races.
“We are really proud of all our swimmers,” said Catherine, adding, “We’re sure to be going to the provincials again this year.”