News and event information for Williams Lake, BC - as it happens.

By LeRae Haynes

The Williams Lake Blue Fins met on Saturday at Williams Lake Secondary School for their annual general meeting, registration, dinner and awards ceremony. Certificates, medals and trophies were distributed by Blue Fins coach Marilyn Haines, following a DVD photo show with music created by swimmers in the club.

(Abbi Taylor was awarded the ‘Swimmer of the Year’ trophy.)

The ‘Team Spirit’ award was presented to Kasha Vitoratos and Marlie Russell and the ‘Work Ethic’ award went to Maia Vitoratos, Mitchell Blusson and Mitchell Ryan.

‘Top Swimmer’ awards in the ‘8 and under’ category went to Liam McCreight and Keanna Saunders; Raeyden Beauchamp and Jerika Meldrum won the award in the ‘9-10’ class. In the ‘11-12’ class, David Russell and Kelsey Blokland were the winners, in ‘13-14’ Danny Rich and Ashley Beauchamp took first place and in the ‘15 and over’ category, the winners were Patrick Verbeeck and Tracey Beauchamp.

The two swimmers who won the club ‘Record Breaking’ awards were Kelsey Blokland and Coral Choi. Coral broke the club record in the 100m breast stroke, a record set by her own mother approximately 30 years ago.

Geneva Gordon came in first with a score of 50 in ‘Most Best Times’, award, with Kara Zavitz in second place with 40. ‘Rookie of the Year’ went to Tennale Sailor and ‘Hardest Trainer’ went to Courtney Burke in the Junior category and Tracey Beauchamp in the Senior class.

David Russell walked away with the ‘Most Sportsmanlike’ award, with “Most Improved’ going to Madison Blusson in the Junior class and Danika Robson in the Senior category.

The ‘Parent of the Year’ award went to Dale Taylor and ‘Swimmer of the Year’ was awarded to Abbi Taylor.

A Grade 12 student who also serves on the City of Williams Lake Student Council, Abbi has been a member of the Blue Fins since she was 10 years old.

She said that she had been taking swimming lessons and found that she excelled in the water and enjoyed it, adding that it was a natural step for her to join the Blue Fins. “I like the fact that swimming is both an individual sport and a team sport,” she said.

“We go to meets in Kelowna, sometimes the lower mainland, Prince George and Kamloops. I really enjoy it when we have meets here in Williams Lake, though—we are known for putting on a great event and for being friendly and welcoming to our guests.”

Abbi said that being a member of the Blue Fins is more than swimming and competing—it’s also a great way to have fun and make friends. “A highlight for me is our team dinners and making ‘gross drinks,’” she explained. “I also enjoyed going to swim camp in Calgary.”

The next competition for the Blue Fins will take place in Prince Rupert in October.

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