Windsor Aquatic Club Swimmers Shine In Provincial, National and International Events
The Windsor Aquatic Club had one of its most successful years ever. Early in the season, WAC was a standout at their Regional meet, compiling 84 medals and taking home top team honours. The success continued with large medal hauls at Provincials and Easterns as well. This is all the more impressive considering it was their first year back after being shut down for nearly two years.
The club had seven swimmers qualify and compete at 2022 Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria, B.C. this spring. Some of those swimmers were also selected for Canada Summer Games, the largest amateur multi-sport event in the country which is held every four years. This competition hosts the top young athletes in each province. For the first time in WAC’s 52-year history, they had more than one swimmer qualify. Taya Hutchison, Tabi Main, and Alexandar Lackovic all competed in Niagara earlier this month. Lackovic won two silver medals in both the 50 and 100 back, as well as two bronze medals as a member of two relay teams. Taya Hutchison had multiple top ten finishes and won gold in the women’s 400 free relay.
The club also had six of eight swimmers competing at the International Children’s Games at the same time as the Canada Games. The International Children’s Games, or ICG, is a major international event, sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee with more than 1000 young athletes from over 100 countries competing in seven sports. WAC’s head coach Mike McWha was the team’s coach and travelled with them to Coventry England for the six day competition. The girls 400 free relay team won a bronze medal and Emilija Mesic brought home bronze in the 50 fly.
Julia Lane, one of WAC’s most decorative para swimmers, broke two more World Down Syndrome records this season. She will be representing Canada at the World Down Syndrome Games in Portugal this October.
One meet remains for a WAC swimmer, to finish off the 2021/22 season. The Junior Pan Pacific Championships is a high-level meet for swimmers 18 and under. Quinn Mattheis made Canada’s National Junior team and will be competing this week in Honolulu, Hawaii. The ‘Jr. Pan Pacs’ is a high-level meet for swimmers 18 and under. Quinn will be competing against the best young swimmers from 10 countries including Australia, Fiji, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and the US.
After two years of no practices and no meets, it’s hard to imagine a year could have gone so well. The future looks very bright for the young swimmers in our community and for the Windsor Aquatic Club.