Photo by Marissa Tiel
TEAMMATES – From left, Rennes Lindsay, Hannah Kingscote and Cassis Lindsay will represent Yukon at the Age Group Nationals next week in Calgary. The indoor competition runs from July 27 to 31 at the Talisman Centre. The open water competition will take place at Arbour Lake on Aug. 1.
The Whitehorse Glacier Bears will field its largest team at age group nationals next week since coach Malwina Bukszowana took the reigns in 2013.
The Whitehorse Glacier Bears will field its largest team at age group nationals next week since coach Malwina Bukszowana took the reigns in 2013.
Sisters Cassis and Rennes Lindsay will be joined by Hannah Kingscote at the Calgary competition.
The Lindsays have been to nationals before, Cassis in 2014 and 15 and Rennes in 2015, but this will be Kingscote’s first experience at the meet.
“It’s super exciting,” said Rennes, 13. “This time we get to share it with Hannah.”
Cassis, who attended her first nationals by herself welcomes the company. “We get along really well.”
And with coach Bukszowana also making the trip south, the atmosphere will be positive at the Glacier Bears camp.
“We’ll be focused on our races, but there’ll be lots of jokes,” said Cassis.
Cassis and Rennes qualified at meets earlier this year. Cassis, 15, will stick to her sprint events, 50-metre freestyle, 100 freestyle, 50 butterfly and 100 butterfly.
Rennes, whose foot injury has greatly improved over the last week will have a race nearly every day of the five-day long meet. Last year she won two bronze medals in the 400 and 800 freestyle. She’ll swim those events again as well as 200, 1,500 freestyle and the 2.5-kilometre open water event following the meet on Aug. 1.
Kingscote, meanwhile, who attained her final qualifying time during a timetrial at the Canada Games Centre a few weeks ago, will race the sprint events in her two best strokes, backstroke (50, 100) and butterfly (50, 100).
Kingscote, 14, is thankful that she’ll have the Lindsays and Bukszowana to show her the ropes.
“I think Hannah is really prepared,” says Rennes. “She’s relaxed. She’ll go into this with ease.”
Cassis says that when you walk through the pool doors the feeling is different than other meets, even one like B.C. AAAs.
“It’s a big step up,” she said. “Everyone is so much bigger and everyone is so much faster.”
The excitement of competition gets the adrenaline pumping and can lead to faster times.
“Canadian swimming is a little faster than Whitehorse swimming, but that doesn’t mean we can’t fight for finals,” said Bukszowana.
She said the girls are looking better in the pool than they did before B.C. AAAs.
The meet runs July 27 to Aug. 1.
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