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Smith excels at swim competitions

A 14-year-old swimmer with the Orca Swim Club will train with some of the best swimmers in the province next month.
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Sidney Wilson does the butterfly at the Triple Pentathlon in Penticton earlier this month. The three-day event saw swimmers competing in five races each day. Eight members of the Orca Swim Club in Summerland took part in the meet.

A 14-year-old swimmer with the Orca Swim Club will train with some of the best swimmers in the province next month.

Taylor Smith has been chosen to attend a provincial training camp. The top 20 female swimmers in the province have been invited to the camp, which will be held in the Lower Mainland in late November.

Delano Ducheck, coach of the Orca Swim Club, said this is the first time a member of the club has been invited to this camp.

The camp is to prepare top swimmers for competitions in 2017.

In past years, male and female swimmers would train together, but this year, the training has been changed.

Female swimmers will work with female coaches, nutritionists and speakers during the training camp, while male swimmers, working with male coaches, will train elsewhere.

Ducheck added that the level of competition in British Columbia is high, as the province has some of the strongest swim clubs in Canada.

The Double-A swim times in B.C. are faster than the Triple-A times in some other provinces, he said.

Ducheck said Taylor has been working hard at her sport, training seven to eight times a week.

Her mental attitude has helped her win at various competitions, he added.

“One thing that sets Taylor apart is mentally she’s so tough,” he said. “It’s probably one of the best qualities you can have in any performance sport.”

Smith and other Orca swimmers also competed at the Triple Pentathlon earlier this month in Penticton.

The three-day event had swimmers in five races a day.

Eight Orca swimmers, the youngest 11 years old, competed in all races at the meet.

 



John Arendt

About the Author: John Arendt

John Arendt has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years. He has a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism degree from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
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