Aquanauts shine at home meet

The Fort Frances Aquanauts kicked off the 2012-13 swimming season with a bang as they hosted five other teams during the annual Boston Pizza Fall Frolic Invitational over the weekend at the Memorial Sports Centre.
“Our returning people had a number of personal bests, and that will allows us to have a bigger team that will be going to the Prairie Winter Invitational in Winnipeg at the end of next month,” noted head coach Dawnn Taylor.

“Our little guys saw everyone receive a best time, and everyone swam really good during the weekend,” she added.
Levi Rittau led the charge for the Aquanauts, earning the high-point award in the boys’ 15 and over age group thanks to eight first-place finishes.
“There wasn’t a lot of senior boys in this meet, so I knew going in that Levi wasn’t going to be pushed hard or chasing after anyone during [it],” Taylor explained.
“So my main focus with Levi was with what he was doing technically, and his kick-outs were very good this weekend compared to what they have been,” she lauded.
“That’s very encouraging for him going forward.”
Another strong performance for the Aquanaut boys was turned in by 12-year-old Josh Cousineau, who finished in first place in the 200m backstroke (2:55.98) and the 200m breaststroke (3:44.84) in the 11-12 age group, and also earned four qualifying times for the PWI.
“That was the one performance this weekend that absolutely rocked my world,” Taylor enthused.
“Josh came on so strong this weekend and it was pretty exciting for all of us to watch, and the team all embraced it, which was super.”
Mitchell Riordon, meanwhile, had a trio of first-place finishes in the boys’ 13-14 age group, winning the 50m, 100m, and 200m backstroke events en route to a third-place showing overall.
Leading the Aquanauts in the girls’ division was Regan Danylchuk, who finished in second place in the girls’ 13-14 standings thanks to first-place results in the 50m and 400m freestyle and the 50m backstroke.
“Regan did really well,” Taylor remarked.
“She did have a couple of swims that were not as a strong as we hoped it could have been,” Taylor admitted. “But in everything else, she improved from last year.
“Also, Lyndsi Jo Wilson came on really strong in the same division, as her 200m butterfly and her 400m individual medley races were both phenomenal.”
Wilson, who took top spot in the 13-14 200m backstroke, also was joined on the podium by Anika Beaudry, who had the best time in the girls’ 13-14 200m breaststroke.
The Aquanauts now have a month off before their next event—the Kenora Swim Sharks Fall Invitational on Nov. 17-18.
“There are some things that we need to work on still, especially with our turns,” Taylor remarked.
“But I think we are heading in the right direction here, and we have a good idea about what events the swimmers will be in for the rest of the season.
“So I don’t think we have to make that many changes here,” she added.