THUNDER BAY – SPORTS – This past weekend 28 swimmers travelled to Winnipeg to compete against twenty clubs from Vancouver to Toronto at the Prairie Winter International Swim Meet. The ThunderBolts swam superbly winning the women’s title, placing third in the men’s category and placing second overall. This was an excellent result for the club.
“I am extraordinarily pleased with both our individual and team performances,” stated ThunderBolt Head Coach Tommaso Panizza. “Our outstanding performances against bigger clubs from larger cities are a result of hours of hard work and dedicated and focused training,” added Panizza.
Leading the pack for the ThunderBolts were Kaitlyn Luu and Luke Foulds. Both turning in outstanding weekends winning their respective individual high point trophies. High Point trophies are awarded to those athletes who score the most points in their age group. 12-year-old Luu destroyed the competition winning all eight of her individual races and setting 3 ThunderBolt club records.
“I am very proud of how I swam this weekend and really excited about setting my first ThunderBolt club record,” said an excited Kaitlyn Luu. “I was particularly happy with my 100 m butterfly and 200 m freestyle. It was also great seeing the whole team excel!”
Luke Foulds had another good meet winning 5 gold and 3 silver medals on his way to the High Point Award.
“I’m very pleased with my results this past weekend,” said 13-year-old Luke Foulds. “I was happy with my 200 m, 400 m and 1500 m freestyle as I shaved a lot of time off my previous best times. It was also great seeing all my teammates do so well!” added Foulds.
A number of other ThunderBolts had great swim meets winning multiple medals and setting club records over the weekend. Sam Chisholm had an incredible weekend winning 4 medals and setting two new records. Hannah Johnsen won 5 medals, Isabel Harri won 2 and Lindsay Puhalski, 4, all setting one club record each.
12-year-old Mackenzie Thompson also won three medals including a gold medal.
Other athletes competing at the Prairie Winter International Swim Meet were: Emma Adamson, Zoe Aylward, Nikolas Black, Abbi Brown, Maggie Chisholm, Max Chisholm, Jett Dobson, Tye Dobson, Evander Dunn, Scott Fay, Matthew Foulds, Braydon Hrabok, Molly Hunt, Fisher Jackson, Emily Murphy, Tori Niitynen Dreifelds, Madison Nisula, Addison Pradissitto, Julia Siver and Paige Venasky.
“I am really happy with the team effort this past weekend. All the ThunderBolts from the National group, Provincial group, Senior Development group, Junior Development group and our Prospects group had great races and contributed to our overall result,” added Panizza.
Up next for the ThunderBolts is a Christmas training camp building strength and confidence for a successful 2020.
