Kelowna Fall Classic Recap - November 21-23, 2025
Throughout last weekend (November 21-23), 17 Orca swimmers suited up to compete over a three-day meet at the Fall Classic in Kelowna. Huge shout-out to Maya, who was competing at her first Regional level swim meet, and Isla and Annabel, who took on the 1500m Freestyle for the first time ever! Bonus shout out to Nicolas who was an invaluable leader all weekend long.
Over the weekend, the team swam a total of 98 individual races (75% of which were best times), and 8 relays. While swimming is technically an individual sport, relays are almost always the favourite part of any day, and this weekend was no different with almost 100% of the relay legs finishing faster than their own personal bests. Great teamwork!! Below, us coaches have picked one or two individual highlight for each swimmer:
Emily: Emily took off time in all but two of her individual races. She put a strong finishing touch on her weekend with an impressive performance in the 200m Breaststroke on Sunday, dropping 6.38 seconds off her best time to go a 3:01.45. Next time sub-3! :)
Addison: While she prefers the shorter events, Addison put on a brave face and completed her first 400m Freestyle race on Friday. On the same evening, she proceeded to take off almost 2 seconds and break the 50 second mark in her 50m Butterfly for the first time. Way to go, Addy!
Ainsley: Despite not feeling tip top over the weekend, Ainsley poured it all into the water for both of her Saturday morning swims, dropping over 3 seconds in her 100m Backstroke and 14 in her 100m IM! Her 100m Backstroke effort earned her ‘nerd of the day’ for the session. Super proud of you, Ainsley!
Lore: Joining us for 3 races, Lore made the most of her opportunities at the meet! Despite being entered in at least one of her least favourite races, she gave it her all and swam faster than she has this season in all three events. Keep up the great work, Lore!
Madeleine: Blowing away the weekend with 100% personal bests, Madi capitalized on the 200m Backstroke and 100m Butterfly to take a combined 33 seconds off. Her work on underwaters in practice is really paying off, and we are excited to see it continue!!
Bea: Always such a great competitor on her relays, Bea again bested her individual best times on each of her relay splits, but also improved her best event (the 100m Backstroke) by .42 for a 1:14.45, which is extremely hard to do this time of year! Great effort Bea!
Isla: Other than obliterating her goal time of 23 minutes in the 1500m Freestyle (she swam a 21:47.48), Isla bested every one of her best times by a significant margin this weekend! One of the coach’s favourites was the 50m Butterfly, where she rode a long underwater to a personal best of 44.14. More Butterfly coming soon? :)
Rhys: While repeating several of his races from the Pentathlon, Rhys still managed to improve in half of his events and added a great first time 100m Butterfly. This is not an easy race, but he has been working hard on his Butterfly technique and endurance in practice and held it together really well for this event. Great work, Rhys!
Alicia: The queen of consistency, Alicia improved her 100m IM, 100m Backstroke, and 100m Butterfly by similar margins, bringing them all within roughly a second of breaking that elusive 1:20 mark. Ali’s attention to detail, even in races, impressed us as always. She also anchored one of the relay teams in a super speedy 30 second 50m Freestyle. Wow!
Sophie: In her second Regional level meet, Sophie also gave it her best go in the 400m Freestyle. Despite having no experience in the event, Sophie paced it extremely well and built on her confidence every lap. Super consistent effort all weekend, Soph!
Adleigh: Juggling several sports at a time can be pretty challenging, so coming away with a few personal bests and right on the goal times for this meet should be super encouraging. Bringing home two relays in sub-30 second 50m Freestyles is also only the start this year!
Jason: Although Jason had a couple DQs, he didn’t let that phase him and instead blew away his 200m Backstroke time from the Penticton meet last month. Besting his time by over 17 seconds, Jason showed his ability to pace a 200m race and follow a race plan effectively. Excited to see what’s next!
Yaniv: While Yaniv bested his times in all but one of his events (and missing that one by just .07), his constant commitment to improving his Butterfly shone through over the whole weekend. Highlighting his weekend was his first ever 200m Butterfly, one of the hardest events to do. Yaniv made it look easy, though, blowing away his coaches and everyone’s expectations by swimming a 2:57.81. Crazy impressive, Yaniv!
Nicolas: Just like he can’t stop growing, it seems Nicolas can’t seem to stop improving by leaps and bounds every swim meet. Across 7 individual races, Nicolas took off over 2.2 minutes of accumulated time, including a whopping 52 second improvement in his 400m Freestyle. There are pretty much no words. What a weekend!
Annabel: Not to be outdone by Nicolas, Annabel also chopped off massive chunks of time from each and every one of her races. Besting her goal by almost a minute in the 1500m Freestyle and dropping 35.9 seconds from her 400m Freestyle are just a few of the great results she had. This kid works her butt off every day, and it is paying off!
Maya: Our third and final Regional swimmer to complete her first 400m Freestyle (in her first ever Regional level swim meet no less), Maya was nervous but didn’t complain and swam a super steady race. It was so much fun to have Maya part of the group for the first of many swim meets!
Kendra: Last but definitely not least, Kendra swam a perfect best time weekend, and even found a new favourite stroke! Always proclaiming her dislike for backstroke, Kendra figured out how good she’s getting in it when she took off 20-some seconds on her 200m Backstroke… only a few weeks after already taking off 10+ in Penticton! Good thing she likes it now, cause she’s going to be doing a lot more of it! :)
What a great weekend of racing!! We loved getting so many of the kiddos together for the weekend, and that we were able to put in so many relay teams! Super proud of all the fast racing, attention to details, and growth that was shown throughout the weekend. Looking forward to a few more weeks of hard work in the pool before one more pre-Christmas meet in Kamloops next month!
As always, thank-you to parents and the greater Orca community for all your support! See you at the pool!
Coaches Janae & Olivia