OLDS — An Olds Rapids swimmer won gold and another won bronze during the Alberta Summer Provincial Long Course Championships, held July 25-28 in Edmonton.
Stella Bos won gold in the girls 11 & under category in the 1,500-metre (m) freestyle with a time of 31:17.77.
Josh Stuart of Innisfail won bronze in the boys 12 & under 1,500 free with a time of 31:33.46, which also set a club record in the boys 10 & under long course category.
In a news release, Olds Rapids coach Wesley Wilks said the last time an Olds Rapids swimmer won a medal in the summer championships was back in 2015 when C. Ogloff won bronze in the boys 11-year-old 100m freestyle.
The last gold medal won by an Olds Rapids Swimmer was in 2005 when E. Christiansen won the girls 10 & under 800m free.
Bos also placed 27th in the girls 11& under in the 200m breaststroke.
Stuart also placed 20th in the boys 12 & under 200m butterfly, beating his own club record from a month ago, setting a new time of 4:15.84.
Stuart was also ninth in the 12 & under 800m freestyle, where he set another club record with a time of 15:59.93.
In addition, he placed 25th in the 400m freestyle.
Jayce Jones placed 10th in the boys 12 & under 800m freestyle and fourth in the 1,500m free, just behind his teammate Josh.
Claire Laut placed 14th in the girls 11 & under 200 butterfly, and 22nd in the 200m backstroke.
Claire, Stella, Jayce, and Josh were also part of a mixed relay team that placed 12th in the 13 and under age category.
Joshua Stuart of Carstairs also did well at provincials, placing 13th in the boys 14-year-old 200m butterfly, 23rd in both the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley, as well as 29th in the 100m breaststroke and 31st in both his 50m free and 200m breaststroke.
Brooke Rosevear also attended provincials and did well in her races.
Coach Wilks said he was very proud of all of the athletes’ performances.
“They all worked really hard to drop times, set best times, set club records and even podium. I could not be happier with the results,” he said in the news release.
A total of 730 athletes, not only from Alberta, but also B.C., Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and one from Ontario competed in the event.
