DIDSBURY - Despite competing against several clubs from much bigger markets, the Didsbury Aqua Jets did quite well at their home meet this weekend.
The Aqua Jets, which co-hosted the meet with the Cochrane Piranhas, came away with two golds in individual swimming with Tessa Snyder in girls' nine- and 10-year-old 50 metre freestyle and Caidyn Purdy for girls' nine- and 10-year-old 25 metre backstroke.
The Aqua Jets also had a team gold in the nine- and 10-year-old girls'100 metre freestyle relay.
Aqua Jets president Lana Kreiser said the meet went very smoothly.
"We're really proud of all of our swimmers," said Kreiser, "many of whom were able to beat their personal bests by a substantial margin. This was the very first meet for a lot of our younger swimmers."
Kreiser said the young swimmers did very well despite the intimidating and chaotic situation of a swim meet.
"Our club loves to see how the veteran swimmers mentor and share their enthusiasm with the younger ones," she said.
The meet featured close to 300 swimmers from six different clubs competing in a number of categories.
A number of Aqua Jet swimmers finished in the top 10 in their categories: Tanner Aasen finished ninth in the boys' 13- and 14-year-old 100 metre freestyle; Angel Barron finished eighth in the boys' nine- and 10-year-old 100 metre freestyle; Barbara Barron finished second in the girls' six and under 25 metre backstroke, third in the girls' six and under 25 metre flutter, and fourth in the girls' six and under 25 metre freestyle; Chelsea Jardine finished fourth in the girls' 11- and 12-year-old 100 metre backstroke and sixth in the girls' 11- and 12-year-old 50 metre backstroke; Lexi Jardine finished 10th in the 11- and 12-year-old 50 metre fly; Zac Jardine had four top 10 finishes in boys' nine- and 10-year-olds - third in 50 metre fly, fifth in 50 metre backstroke, seventh in 50 metre freestyle, and 10th in 25 metre breaststroke; Oliver Little had four top 10 finishes in the boys' nine- and 10-year-old division - sixth in 25 metre back, eighth in 50 metre back, ninth in 100 metre freestyle, and 10th in 50 metre freestyle; Piper Lundeen had four top 10 finishes as well, in the girls' nine- and 10-year-old division - fifth in 100 metre freestyle, seventh in 25M backstroke, eighth in 50 metre freestyle, and 10th in 25 metre fly; Ryder Mierke placed fifth in the boys' seven- and eight-year-old 25 metre freestyle and seventh in the boys' seven- and eight-year-old 25 metre backstroke; Elizabeth Paulsen finished eighth in both the seven- and eight-year-old freestyle and backstroke; Caidyn Purdy won gold in the girls' nine- and 10-year-old 25 metre backstroke, she also placed fourth, sixth and ninth in 50 metre freestyle, 100 metre freestyle, and 25 metre breaststroke respectively; Keira Reinhardt placed seventh in the girls' seven- and eight-year-old backstroke; Maiya Rosenke placed 10th in the girls' nine- and 10-year-old 25 metre backstroke; Tessa Snyder won gold in the girls' nine- and 10-year-old freestyle, silver in the fly and bronze in both the 25 metre breast and 50 metre backstroke; and Cheye-Anne Wessels won bronze in girls' nine- and 10-year-old 100 metre freestyle, fourth in 50 metre backstroke and 50 metre freestyle.
In team events, Didsbury won gold in the girls' 10 and under 100 metre freestyle with the team of Tessa Snyder, Caidyn Purdy, Autumn Bates-Gardner and Cheye-Anne Wessels; and bronze in the boys' 10 and under 100 metre freestyle relay with the team of Angel Barron, Zac Jardine, Oliver Little and Reuben Maennchen.
The Aqua Jets are now preparing for their next meet, which goes June 9 and 10 in Okotoks.
