Airdrie swimmers from the Nose Creek Swim Association (NCSA) packed a punch in the pool at the 2023 Steven Brown Memorial Classic, hosted in Calgary from June 23 to 25.
The meet, held at the MNP Family Sport Centre, acted as a final qualifier for the upcoming provincial long-course championships, which will take place at the same pool at the end of July.
NCSA coach Alexx Diep said there will be plenty of orange heads bobbing in and out of the water at the upcoming provincials, (the NCSA’s swim caps are bright orange) thanks to the stellar performances of many Airdrie and Calgary-area athletes at the Steven Brown Memorial last weekend.
“We currently have upwards of 40 swimmers who qualified for provincials,” he said, adding about about half of them are from Airdrie.
“I think we’re about the same number as last year, so only up or down by a few.”
The swim competition included 410 swimmers from throughout southern Alberta, with clubs representing Calgary, Medicine Hat, Highwood, Okotoks, and Strathmore. The meet also included out-of-province representation, with swimmers from a club from Regina, Sask. in attendance.
Fourteen NCSA swimmers from Airdrie made the podium in their respective competitions, according to Diep.
Asked to mention who among those medalists stood out during the weekend, Diep brought up the performances of Chelsey Hughes, a 15-year-old who put forward a strong 50-metre (m) freestyle swim in the preliminary round, only missing the Western National Standards by 0.19 seconds. Diep said Hughes also dominated the 50-m breaststroke event, winning the gold in that particular event for her age group.
“Chelsey is a sprinter, so it was nice to see her have her moment to shine because she missed the junior national time standard by a little bit,” Diep said.
On the boys’ side, Diep cited an impressive showing in the pool by Adam Fedorko, a 16-year-old backstroke specialist. But while he continued to do well in his preferred event, picking up a silver medal, Diep noted Fedorko also posted a strong time in the 200-m freestyle, finishing with a bronze.
“His progress curve is projecting that he will achieve the junior national level sometimes next year,” Diep said.
However, Fedorko will not be among the NCSA swimmers representing Airdrie at the upcoming provincials next month, as Diep said he’ll be attending a summer-long science internship in Ontario instead.
“So he can’t attend provincials, but he was fully prepared for this last meet to be his last meet, and he did really well,” Diep said. “He typically excels in the backstroke events but he broke out with his freestyle, which was good to see.”
Strong swimming appears to be a family affair for the Fedorkos, as Adam’s younger sister Gabriella also excelled in the meet last weekend. The younger Fedorko sibling nabbed a silver in the 1,500-m freestyle and 200-m individual medley, and also made the podium in the 50 and 100-m freestyle, with third-place finishes in those events.
“She’s put together some really solid swims over the weekend,” Diep said. “To me, watching younger swimmers and knowing where they need to be in the next few years, I’d flag her as someone on the girls’ side who we’ll need to keep our eyes on to make sure her progression is still steady and that we’re keeping her away from injuries and that sort of stuff.”
The fourth Airdrie swimmer Diep highlighted was 13-year-old Logan Post. According to the NCSA coach, Post picked up three silver medals in the 800-m freestyle, 50-m butterfly, and 100-m freestyle, and showed his versatility with bronze in the 50-m backstroke. But it was Post’s 50-m freestyle race that he showed the most promise, with a gold-medal finish and a provincial championship time.
Diep said NCSA’s swimmers will be back in the pool July 6 to 9 for one of two competitions to fine-tune their techniques before provincials. Some will head north to Edmonton for the Keyano International, while others will remain home to compete in the Western Finale Swim Meet at the University of Calgary.
“Those will be their last meets before provincials,” Diep said.
