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Orca swimmers compete in Victoria

The Summerland Orca swim team had four swimmers who competed at the BC AA Swimming Championship.
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Annmarie Lang-Hodge was one of four Orca swimmers to compete in the B.C. AA Swimming Championships in Victoria. She earned two golds and a silver at the event.

The Summerland Orca swim team had four swimmers who competed at the BC AA Swimming Championship at the Victoria Saanich Commonwealth Games Pool June 21 to 23.

Christy Wright 11, Brooklyn Parliament 11, Brittany Parliament 14 and Annmarie Lang-Hodge 14 all represented Summerland over the three-day competition.

“Our swimmers brought their A game to this peak year-end competition.  Each girl qualified for a final swim (top eight) and swam personal best times, said head coach Delano Ducheck, “and to top it off, Annmarie Lang-Hodge stood on top of the podium, racking up two gold medals (100m and 200m breaststroke) and a silver (50m freestyle.)

“It is always a highlight when a swimmer who epitomizes a true champion: someone who day in and day out perseveres through training with both a positive attitude and determination wins a medal at a major provincial competition,” said Joanne Malar returning head co-coach.

Two of the youngest swimmers, Wright and Brooklyn Parliament, both 11 years old, qualified for their first AA Championships.

Wright came as close as she could to a medal in the 200m freestyle, missing the podium by just .05 of a second. Parliament was eighth in the 50m freestyle.

“It was a highlight to see both girls make the top eight final.  Gaining that sort of experience is invaluable,” Malar said.

Brittany Parliament, who graduated from Summerland Middle School this year, has made the butterfly stroke her art.

“Brittany has a very rare talent that she can swim the most difficult stroke with ease. That ability will take her far,” Malar said.

She raced in the final of the 200m butterfly and 100m butterfly finishing fourth and fifth respectively with almost a 10-second improvement in time between the two races.

Orca has two final meets this summer, the BC AAAs in UBC Vancouver July 4 to 7 and the Junior National’s in Montreal July 17 to 21.  If you are interested in joining the Orca Swim Club, information for new swimmers can be found at  www.orcaswimclub.net.

Last year there was a waiting list for the popular four-month introductory bootcamp for new swimmers, and Orca is expecting the turnout to be just as high this year.