The head coach of the Olds Rapids Swim Club has qualified to compete at an international championship in Montreal as well as a provincial swimming championship.Graeme Gordon, 35, qualified for the FINA (International Swimming Federation) World Masters Championships and the Alberta Senior Championships after breaking a club record in the 50-metre backstroke event for ages 17 and over at the Lethbridge Spring Invitational swim meet held from May 3 to 4.Gordon finished the event with a time of 33.16 seconds, breaking a record previously held by club member Cody McArthur.The finish places Gordon in fifth place in Canada for his age group in this category this year.He also broke a club record in the 100-metre backstroke event for competitors 17 and over with a time of one minute, 14.13 seconds.This finish places him in third place in the country for master swimmers aged 35 to 39.The World Masters Championships run from July 27 to Aug. 10 and the provincial championships are held in Edmonton from July 3 to 6.Gizelle de Guzman and Dawson Green were the other club members at the meet.De Guzman set a new club record in the 200-metre backstroke event for competitors aged 15 to 16 years with a time of four minutes, 2.55 seconds while Green was one second off the club record in the 100-metre breaststroke competition for competitors aged 15 to 16.One weekend earlier, six club members competed at the University of Calgary Swim Club Spring Start Up.On the morning of April 26, Jazz Thompson, 12, captured the all-time club record previously held by Victoria Wagstaff in the 100-metre breaststroke competition with a time of one minute, 39.96 seconds.But Wagstaff, 15, reclaimed the record three hours later when she finished the event with a time of one minute, 39 seconds.The meet was the first time club members and siblings Stephen and Ketzia McMurter competed in a 50-metre pool and it was the last competition for Stephen before he heads to the Alberta Summer Games trials in Canmore on June 7.The club's next meet is in Edmonton from May 24 to 25.Gordon, Mitchell Ormann and De Guzman have qualified for Olds' first senior provincial relay team and Gordon said Thompson and De Guzman are up for the fourth spot on the team.
