Dolphins excel in New Brunswick

MONCTON, N.B. -- The Summerside Dolphins excelled here at the recent New Brunswick short-course swimming championships.
"It was one of our best years yet over in New Brunswick," said Dolphins head coach Tracy Stevenson. "We had 11 swimmers attend and actually had 15 that qualified, which was the most we've had since I've been coaching the Dolphins.
"We won 10 medals and had some outstanding swims."
For example, Molly Wedge just missed qualifying for age group nationals by three-tenths of a second. Wedge and Emily Finkle Hammer each met Canada Games standards and the Dolphins set several provincial records.
"Overall, they far exceeded my expectations," added Stevenson. "We treated this meet as a training meet because we are preparing for the East Coast short-course championships that are Feb. 26 to March 1 in Charlottetown. . . I thought they would swim well and have some strong showings, but I didn't expect so many personal best times and medals."

Medals
Wedge, who swam personal bests in five of her six swims, won a gold medal in the senior girls' 50-metre freestyle and silver in the 100-metre freestyle. She set P.E.I. provincial records in both.
Maggie Finkle Hammer went 6-for-6 in personal-best swims and returned home with three silver medals in the 11-12 girls' age group -- 200-metre freestyle, 800-metre freestyle and 200 individual medley. She set a provincial record in the 800 free.
In 11-12 boys, Bearon Bracegirdle earned two silver medals in the 200 freestyle and 100 individual medley. He also swam five personal bests in six events.
Jessica Campbell had four personal bests in six events and won the bronze medal in the 11-12 girls' 50 freestyle.
Carson Dillon, who swam in 15 and over boys, won the bronze medal in the 100 backstroke and went 5-for-6 in personal bests.
Emily Finkle Hammer won bronze in the 15-over girls' 100-metre backstroke.

Personal bests
Jessica Proctor swam in five 11-12 girls' events and set personal bests in each one, while Martina Cormier set four personal-best times in five 13-14 girls' events.
Zach Doiron set two new personal bests in his three 11-12 boys' events, Andrew Brawn had a 3-for-6 personal-best summary and Gavin Cousins had two new personal marks in five events in 15-over boys.
"They had some really fast times," said Stevenson. "Some of the results achieved at this meet were their goal times for East Coast (championships), so they're already swimming at the level they thought they would be at East Coast. It's really looking good for East Coast and I'm sure they're going to be even faster then."

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