ORCA November VKSC Meet Recap (2024/2025):
Over the weekend of November 1-3, a regional swim meet was held in Vernon BC. As it was directly between two other meets Orca planned to attend, we decided to go down as a group for just one event: the 800m Freestyle. For reference, the 800m Freestyle consists of 32 lengths of a 25m pool. This is the second longest pool swim race distance, with only the 1500m Freestyle being longer. For all but one of our Orca swimmers who attended, this was a new experience, and one that came with a lot of both nerves and excitement.
In preparation for this meet, we set out several team goals that we wanted to achieve:
1) Cheering for and supporting each other.
2) Experiencing and learning how to pace a longer distance event, thus building confidence for future events. And:
3) Finishing the evening with each swimmer feeling proud of themselves and their teammates.
From my perspective, I believe this event was widely successful in accomplishing each of those goals.
With over 80 swimmers competing in the 800m from teams across the valley, our 9 Orca representatives were dispersed across several different heats. These heats took place over a 2.5-hour timespan, leaving plenty of space for cheering and encouraging as the night went on.
First up, we had Adleigh and Ainsley. Both girls have done several 400m races in the past, but only Adleigh had done an 800m in a previous meet. While some time goals were met and others weren’t quite achieved, both Adleigh and Ainsley maintained their technical focus that we have been focusing on to start the season. Learning how to do this over a long race is difficult, so there is a lot to be proud of here!
A few heats later, Bea and Emily got their turn. Nerves were prevalent before the race, but you wouldn’t have known it to watch these two, as their consistent splits and intentionality to follow the race plan led to huge improvements over their expected times. A special shout-out to Bea who achieved her new age group’s Divisional time in this first-time swim of the event. Great work both of you!
Elizabeth and Annabel were up a little while after, and impressed their me greatly with their commitment to consistent and strong underwaters off every wall. This is no small feat in any swim, however in an 800m race (which usually takes more than 10 minutes) this is a whole other challenge… one these two were apparently up to. Excellent job Elizabeth and Annabel!
Finally, we had Maddie, Isla, and Kendra round out the field. While none of these three had competed in even a 400m race yet, their willingness to try new hard things was evident and the massive smiles on each of their faces following their races spoke to their well-deserved sense of accomplishment. Fortunately, having a voice isn’t a requirement to swimming as I believe all three had practically lost theirs cheering for their teammates prior to their own event. Super proud of your positive attitudes and huge efforts, kiddos!
To wrap it up, I believe the goals we set out to accomplish were met on a number of levels, and that while there were definitely some learning experiences along the way, each swimmer could walk away very proud of what they accomplished!
Coach Janae