The Chatham Pool Sharks recently enjoyed a wild two weeks travelling across Canada, competing in championship meets.
At their mid-season peak, these long course meets demand emotional and physical readiness to compete at these national competitions. The Sharks proved they have what it takes to compete on the national stage.
Earlier this month in Montreal, five Shark swimmers competed at the Canadian Swimming Championships, otherwise known as “Senior Nationals.” This elite meet had no age categories and featured many Olympians. Making it into a final often required lifetime best swims, and yet the Sharks made 11 finals.
The following Sharks made local history by winning the team’s only medals ever at Senior Nationals: Madison Broad, silver in 200m backstroke; and Genevieve Sasseville, silver in 50m fly.
At this senior-level meet, just making it into a final is the goal for most swimmers.
Also chosen at this meet was the Team Canada Junior Pan-Pac team that will compete in Fiji this summer. Broad was selected based on her performance in the 200mbackstroke. Broad was also selected to the Youth Olympics team in Argentina in October.
Shark swimmers who qualified for CSC included: Madison Broad, David Tran, Madeline Tran, Kendra Polewski, Genevieve Sasseville, and Connor McFadden (unable to attend).
A week later, the Sharks were off to Windsor to compete in the Canadian Eastern Championships. For this fast meet, swimmers had to achieve “Eastern Time Standards” in order to be eligible to compete.
This meet brought together many of Canada’s fastest swimmers from the eastern provinces, as a concurrent meet was held in Victoria for Canada’s western teams.
After another five days of tough competition, the Sharks brought eight top-10 finishes and six podium finishes.
Broad earned silver in the 200m back in the female aged 16 and over category.
Kendra Polewski placed fourth in the 400m freestyle and fifth in the 200m free and 100m free in female aged 16 and over category.
Sasseville took gold in the 50m free and 100m fly, silver in the 100m free and 200m fly in the female aged 15 and under category; and gold in the 50m fly and ninth in the 100m back in the open category.
Tran finished seventh in the 100m free and 50 m free in the male 15 and under grouping.
Swimmers who made the Canadian Swimming Championships included: Madeline Tran, Sasseville, David Tran, Broad, Polewski, Austin Adams (unable to attend), and McFadden (unable to attend).
