If Brad Dingey or any members of his Pacific Sea Wolves Swim Club seem to have a little extra jump in their step these days, it’s well-deserved.
After all, earlier this month, the South Surrey-based club – for which Dingey is head coach – turned in its best showing at provincials in its history.
At provincial swim championships in Victoria, which were held Feb. 28-March 3, the Sea Wolves placed third out of 44 clubs, and 33 PSW swimmers returned home with at least one medal.
“There were some great results, absolutely,” said Dingey.
“The team swam really well, and now we’ve got some momentum heading into the rest of the spring.”
In total, PSW won 12 gold, 17 silver and 11 bronze medals, led by 15-year-old Edwin Zhao, who finished first in four different freestyle distances and the 200-m butterfly, and was third in the 50-m free and 100-m fly.
Kanata Kitagawa, 11, won gold in the 100-m and 200-m fly and silver in both the 200-m and 400-m individual medley and the 200-m and 400-m free; 13-year-old Alexander Blaskovich was first in 1,500-m free, second in two butterfly swims and the 400-m IM, and third in the the 200-m IM and a pair of freestyle events.
Bailey Mothe, 14, scooped a bronze medal in the 200-m backstroke, and had top-eight finishes in four other events, while Esmee Smit-Anseeuw, also 14, won gold in both the 100-m and 200-m fly, silver in the 400-m IM and bronze in the 100-m and 200-m breaststroke and the 200-m IM.
Mason Lin, 15, also climbed to the top of the podium in Victoria, finishing first in the 200-m breast, while also adding silver medals in the 100-m breast and 200-m and 400-m IM.
Rounding out the club’s individual medallists was Olivvya Chow, who – swimming in the senior female division – won gold in the 200-m IM, silver in the 200-m and 400-m freestyle and bronze in the 100-m freestyle.
A Pacific Sea Wolves 14-and-under relay team – made up of Mothe, Smit-Anseeuw, Trista Tetrault and Emily Liang – also won silver in the 200-m medley relay swim.
“The depth of talent on our club is really a strengh, from our 17-year-old swimmers down to our 11 year olds,” said Dingey, who has coached the club since 2004.
“We have as talented a group of swimmers as we’ve ever had since I’ve been here.”
PSW was in Richmond last weekend at the LMR Championships, and next month some swimmers will return to Victoria to compete at world championship trials.