Abbotsford Whalers athletes excelled in the pool at their annual meet late last month.
Thanks to strong showings at their home meet, a number of those swimmers have now qualified for regionals this weekend at Al Anderson Memorial Pool in Langley. Whalers athletes will compete against 120 swimmers in Langley, with the top finishers heading the provincials later this month.
Top finishers from the Abbotsford Whalers Home Meet included:
Girls:
Sarah Portas – (Division 4, 80 points) She earned her points in the 50 metres freestyle, 200m individual medley, 100m breaststroke and 100m freestyle. Portas, a Grade 8 French Immersion student also plays high-performance water polo with the Fraser Valley Water Polo Club.
Emily Aikema – (Division 7, 80 points) The W. J. Mouat 2016 grad is heading to University California Davies with a waterpolo scholarship. She also heads to Montreal to begin training with the national water polo team.
Maryrose Jerodico – (OCat 2, 74 points) The Grade 8 FI student at CDG impressed in 50m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke. She also swims in the winter with the Spartan Swim Club in Chilliwack.
Paige Bennett – (Division 7, 74 points) The 2016 Mouat grad returns to California State Long Beach where she attends school on water polo scholarship.
Brittany Paget – (Division 5, 73 points) The Grade 9 Abby Senior student scored with the 50m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke.
Boys:
Easton Reinfjell – (6 and under): He earned the overall male 6 and under points top prize at the event.
Miguel Garcia Landa – (Division 7, 73 points) The 2016 Mouat and current Whalers coach performed well at the event, and returns to being a UFV student in the fall.
Jovani Garcia Landa- (Division 6, 70 points) The Grade 10 Mouat students returns to the school in the fall after a successful showing in his home pool.
Brayden Portas – (Division 5, 66 points) The Grade 10 student ASIA Sumas Secondary student also excels as a high performance water polo player with Fraser Valley Water Polo. Portas scored in the 50m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke and 100m freestyle.
Travis Veldhoen- (Masters division, 66 points)
Most of the listed athletes will be heading to regionals. Other Whalers heading to the event include: Brynn Kampf, Paige Senft, Elena Huyghe, Fallon Quast, Myriam Hickey, Aliyah Hickey, Lexi Kells, Rachel Kennedy, Syd Dick, Noah Mitchell, Dawson Kampf, Nate Johnson and Zaid Ewert.
In other Whalers news, all four of the club’s water polo teams are heading to provincials after the U12, U16 and U18 won gold and the U14 team won silver at regionals. The provincials run from Aug. 14 to 17 in Kamloops.
The club also introduced diving for the first time ever this summer, with diving regionals occurring tomorrow (Thursday) night. Diving provincials run on Aug. 16 and 17 in Kamloops.
For more on the club, visit abbotsfordwhalers.com.