SSMAC has a strong showing at Youth Cup

NEWS RELEASE

SAULT STE. MARIE AQUATIC CLUB

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SSMAC SWIMMERS STRONG AT YOUTH CUP

Several Sault Ste. Marie Aquatic Club members registered outstanding performances over the weekend at the annual Youth Cup in Etobicoke.

Five SSMAC swimmers, also members of the Northeastern Ontario Regional (NEOR) tour team - Becky Day, 12, Sarah Theodossiou, 12, Wendy Oleskiw, 14, Brian Lee, 12, and Josh Lawrence,13, were joined by other qualifying club swimmers - Jeff Byrne, 18, Jeff Park, 19, Alex Bonne, 18, Patrick Bonne, 12, and Cait Tomlinson, 15, at the four-day event, hosted by the North York Aquatic Club.

Fifty-two teams and 793 swimmers participated in the competition. The NEOR team placed eleventh overall, while the small contingency of SSMAC swimmers combined to place thirty-second.

Leading the way was Day (girls'12 & under age category), who finished within the top eight in seven races. Lee (boys' 12 & under) was also strong, with a fifth-place result while placing seventh twice. Oleskiw was sixth in the 50-metre freestyle (girls' 13-14). Byrne (17 & over) earned a silver medal in the 50-metre butterfly and finished in the top-eight in four other races, while Alex Bonne (17 & over) garnered silver in the 800-metre freestyle.

In relay action, Day and Theodossiou helped power the girls' 12 & under NEOR relay team to a sixth-place finish (400-metre medley relay) and a seventh-place standing (400-metre freestyle relay). Oleskiw, along with other NEOR teammates, finished fifth in the girls'13-14 400-metre relay, and seventh in the 400-metre medley race. Lawrence (boys' 13-14 age category) placed eighth in the 400-metre medley relay, as part of the NEOR team.

The relay team of Byrne, Park and the two Bonne brothers, captured a seventh-place spot in the 17 & over 400- metre freestyle relay. "I was extremely pleased with all of our athletes' performances," says Coach Bill Park. "Our club members worked very hard this weekend and it paid off, with several swimmers securing best times".

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