Kelowna Snowfest Recap - January 23-24, 2026
What an incredible and full weekend for all our swimmers! We had 19 Orcas suit up to compete over the weekend (January 23-25), and everyone put their best foot forward!
Huge shout-outs to Sophia, Ozric, Koen, Emerson and Emmerik, who were all competing at their very first Regional level swim meet – and it was in LONG COURSE!! Congratulations to Lexi and Emerson for qualifying for next month’s Divisionals, and to Yaniv, who made his very first Provincial Qualifying time as well! What a weekend! Here is a coach-selected highlight or two for each swimmer:
Emily: Emily has some pretty big goals, and made some large strides in that direction over the weekend. Dropping a second off her 100 Breaststroke (1:23:47) and 7 seconds off her LC 100 Fly (1:12.82) would have to be two of her best events from the weekend. Can’t wait to see what happens at Divisionals next month!
Ainsley: There are two automatically exceptional races to highlight for Ainsley this weekend… One being the 100 Freestyle and the other being the 100 Backstroke. In the 100 Freestyle final, Ainsley went out fast and held on for dear life as she secured 3rd place and a 2 second best time. In her 100 Backstroke, she dropped almost 5 seconds in the final, moving up from 7th all the way to 2nd with a speedy 1:17.32. Excited to see what’s next, Ains!
Addison: Both of us coaches agreed that Addison is learning how to RACE now! She has beautiful strokes, but this weekend we saw that combined with determination to get the job done… which is a pretty dangerous combination! Addison dropped over 45+ seconds (combined) across her races this weekend, with one of the biggest drops coming in her 200 Freestyle. Keep working hard to get better every day, Addy, and this will continue!
Lore: Lore swam all weekend long with a fantastic attitude and determination to destroy every race, even if there were two Backstroke ones. We couldn’t pick out favourite so we’ll highlight both her 100 Freestyle (where she made her first Final of the year!) and her 50 Butterfly, where she obliterated her previous best by almost 4 seconds. Yay Lore!
Madeleine: For anyone who has ever tried it, you know that Butterfly is not an easy stroke. Now imagine a 50m (Long Course) pool, and having to swim the 100 Butterfly not once, but twice in one day – oh, and as fast as you can. Despite some pre-race nerves and a gulp of pool water mid-swim, Madi crushed this race in Prelims, dropping 6 seconds, and then went even faster in Finals for a 1:28.95. Proud of you Madi!
Sophia: Learning the ropes at Regional meets can be hard, but Sophia took careful note of all the events, heats, and how things were running and swam all of her races extremely well! While all her times will now stand as personal bests, being her first swims of the events, she blew away our guestimates and really raced in all 6 events. Can’t wait for the next one!
Isla: Continuing her breakout season with all-but-one best time, Isla crushed it all weekend. If we were to pick highlights, however, the 100 Backstroke on Saturday, where she bested her previous LC best by 10 seconds in the morning and a further 3 in the afternoon, would have to be top of the list. Her 1500 Freestyle on Sunday also deserves a mention, as this swim earns her a spot firmly on the Orca record board with a time of 21:54.79.
Ozric: Almost exactly a month after qualifying for Regionals, Ozric swam 3 events and a relay at his first meet! He smoked his entry times in all 3 events, but especially in the 200 Freestyle, where he finished with a mind-blowing 3:08.15 – a fast time for anyone in Regionals!
Rhys: Not feeling 100% at a swim meet is brutal, so to pull out some personal bests, including a 30.99 in the 50 Freestyle, is pretty great! We also wanted to note that Rhys was a great leader throughout the weekend, encouraging his teammates and often videoing or helping them with little things. Rhys also swam his first ever Final, besting his prelims time by over 3 seconds! Super proud of you, Rhys.
Sophie: Swimming best times in 5 of her 6 events, Sophie put her head down and worked on a couple key things in each race. One of our favourites was her 100 Backstroke, even if it isn’t one of hers. The technique focus in practice is really paying off!
Koen: Fearless is a good word to describe Koen. Surrounded by people 2-4 times his size, Koen practically led the team into warm-up on the first day, swimming down the middle of lane focusing on what he needed to do. This great attitude and dedication helped him have a hugely successful first Regional Meet, even earning himself a spot in the top 10 in two of his races!
Jason: Joining us for the Saturday of the meet, Jason jumped in and got bigger and bigger best times throughout the day! While he took 6 seconds off his 50 Freestyle and almost 15 off his 200 Freestyle, it was his 100 Backstroke that earned him his first ever Final, culminating in an 8 second time drop and 10th place finish! Well done Jason!
Emerson: It is pretty rare for someone to get a Divisional time in their first ever Regional swim meet. Emerson didn’t just get it - he obliterated it in his 50 Breaststroke, going 44.39. This earns him a spot at next month’s Divisional Champs in Penticton! Woohoo!
Yaniv: You may remember Yaniv missed his Provincial time in Kamloops by 0.03 seconds. Well, he made up for it this weekend, besting it by almost 2 seconds in the final of the 100 Butterfly (1:14.24). His hard work and determination also earned him a new club record in the boys LC 200 Butterfly! Pretty incredible!
Carissa: When Carissa remembers to kick, she takes off! This was most notable in her 50 and 200 Freestyle, where she dropped boatloads of time to finish with a 37.6 and a 3:15.69, respectively. 200s especially are no easy task long course, but Carissa made it look easy.
Alexis: While Alexis swam several great races, the one she has been working especially hard towards a goal in was her 50 Freestyle. She blew her goal time away, moving up 9 spots to make finals and swimming a 31.80, well under her Divisional Qualifying time!
Emmerik: Although Emmerik had several impressive swims over the weekend, the most notable has to be his 200 Freestyle on the Saturday. Following a great swim in the morning, Emmerik made his first ever Final, meaning he had to swim it again in the evening. After waiting until the very end of the night, Emmerik flew off the blocks and sprinted his first 50… then his second… then his third… and came home with another 11+ second improvement! What a race!
Kendra: Kendra joined us on Sunday, after a basketball tournament kept her busy the rest of the weekend, and smoked both her 50 Butterfly and 50 Backstroke LC best times by 6 and almost 5 seconds, respectively. The 50 Fly had her under 40 for the first time, which is super impressive!
Elizabeth: Elizabeth also joined us on Sunday after basketball and went 3-for-3 in best times in her races! She was especially thrilled with her 50 Breaststroke best time, which she has been working towards for a while!
Thanks for reading!! What a (hot and sweaty) amazing weekend for everyone!!
As always, thank-you to parents and the greater Orca community for all your support! Don’t forget to sign up for our next few events (below). See you at the pool!
Coaches Janae & Olivia
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Regional / Multisport / Age Group
· CSSSC Spring Meet – Salmon Arm (Feb. 6-8)
· NID Winter Divisionals – Penticton (Feb. 20-22)
· Fernie Fox (Team Travel Meet) – Fernie (April 17-19)
Development
· CSSSC Jamboree – Salmon Arm (Feb. 8)