Prairie Winter Invitational 2022
The Prairie Winter Invitational was the December travel meet for many swimming from the National and Provincial groups, with 54 swimmers making the trip to Winnipeg. Through frigid temperatures, constant snow, and some illness entering the group, these 50+ swimmers showed true resilience that led to top-end performances.
A fun tradition that UCSC has had for a number of years is the “Swim of the Day” award. At this meet, the coaches picked the first swims of the day, and then those recipients passed the elf hat on to their teammate who they chose as having the best swim of the next session. It was awesome to see our swimmers recognize each other’s efforts in such a positive way!
For many swimmers, this was their first opportunity to try team travel. Through this experience they learned lessons of personal responsibility, working with teammates, team support, and working with the staff and chaperones away from the pool. These lessons will be invaluable as the swimmers progress through their careers to more extensive travel experiences.
On the performance side, one club record was set by Hayleigh Haines in the 100 breast at 1:12.39, breaking a record that had stood for 37 years. A number of swimmers also posted 100% best times including Adam Al Seafan, Matteo Chen, Matthew Du, Andrew Fenning, Matthew Longino, Yianni Mylonas, Sophia Bekker, Hayleigh Haines, and Julia Wagner. Finally, gold medals were won by Andrew Byrne, Matteo Chen, Matthew Cheung, Jackie Dong, Andrew Fenning, Lachlan Simpson, Sonia Bakhshi, Sophia Bekker, Claire Bennett, Ranumi Eashwarage, Hilary Guo, Hayleigh Haines, Rosie Housman, Sophia Meller, Amy Peng, and Christine Zhou.
Finally, a huge thanks to our 4 chaperones: Sally Longino, Anita Cheung, Susan Tse, and Maggie Zhou! They managed this extremely large group with patience and calm, and took care of the swimmers in every way needed.
The 2022 PWI meet was a huge success, so congratulations to the swimmers, and build on these performances in the new year!