The Banting Bronco Swim Team continued to “make waves” in the pool this year winning both the Mens’ and Womens’ Open Division Banners at OFSAA. This is Banting’s fourth OFSAA Championship banner in the past three years.
Seventeen swimmers attended the two day meet in Windsor on March 7th and 8th. There were several outstanding swims including an OFSAA RECORD broken by Maggie MacNeil in the Womens’ Open 100 butterfly with a time of 59.35 adding to her recording setting swims at both TVRAA and WOSSA.
In the Women’s Open 100m freestyle, MacNeil came within 1/10 of a second of breaking a 30 year old OFSAA record with a time of 56.27, and she was also part of the 4×50 Womens’ Medley Relay team (along with Brigitte Ryan, Menley Langham and Ellie Wong) who earned OFSAA Gold with a time of (2:01.24).
The Mens’ Open 4 x 50m Medley Relay team of David Hickey, Brandon Ryu, Sami Ferwati and Will Stewart repeated last years’ results by earning a Silver medal with a blazing swim of 1:51.77. Hickey went on to win gold in the Mens’ Open 100 backstroke with a personal best time of 58.90 and placed 5th in the 200 IM with a time of 2:13.14, while Ryu earned Bronze in the 50 fly (26.98)and Bronze in the 100 IM (1:03.25) High School Division.
Aside from her gold medal in the relay, Langham also earned a Bronze medal for her 200IM in a time of 2:26.77 and had an impressive showing in her 200 free. Stewart placed 6th in the Open Men’s 50 free in a time of 24.64 placed 4th in the 100 free in a time of 53.39 and clocked an impressive 23.87 on the relay.
The Mens’ Open 4 x 100 Free Realy team of Sami Ferwati, Jack Haycock, Michael Quigley and James Quigley placed an impressive 7th while the Women’s team of Hillary Bruce, Kyla Romero, Emilee Pool and Julia Blaha scored big points finishing 15th.
Many of these swimmers are past or current members of LAC and their dedication to their sport was evident in their attitude and performances. The Banting Broncos also had a phenomenal showing at TVRAA in February with 43 students competing – some for the first time. These athletes won the Combined Open Division, and the team, overall, scored the most points in the meet. 38 swimmers then advanced to WOSSA and again won the Combined Open Division and as a team scored the most points overall.
The Banting Coaching staff feels incredibly privileged to work with such a fabulous and fun group of students. Their efforts, results, and positive attitude were evident at all meets and during each training session; we look forward to a wonderful 2017-2018 season!
