Eleven Fort St. John swimmers qualify for Edmonton meet

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Eleven swimmers from Fort St. John’s Inconnu Swim Club have headed to Edmonton to compete at the provincial series meet scheduled for July 4th to July 7th.

The event will take place at the Kinsmen Sports Centre. The athletes qualified for entry due to their performances in the pool earlier this year.

Inconnu club president Nadine Stirling says the times are based on provincial swimming standards for 12—to 16-year-old swimmers.

According to Stirling, the team has had to deal with the loss of head coach Carmen Escobar, who had to travel to Mexico.

Stirling says the club has grown and developed since Escobar joined, with swimmers meeting national-level qualifying times for races. 

“We’ve gone from 60 swimmers at the club to 110 since Carmen,” said Stirling. “Our club is young, but it’s growing.”

Former club competitor and assistant coach Owen Lang has been coaching the club for the last month and a half of the season.  

A club member since 2013, Lang has been around in a coaching capacity for around six years, says Stirling.

“Carmen has had to have her daughter and her family transition into a new swim academy,” said Stirling. “She will return in the fall.”

“Most of our senior swimmers have known Owen for years. We needed someone to step in and help our senior guys who’d worked all season to get to this type of big event, and Owen did which was incredible.”

According to the event’s official program, staged disciplines include freestyle, butterfly, backstroke, and relay races. 

Stirling says Inconnu’s entrants will compete in each event.

“We’re so incredibly proud of them and I cannot wait to see what next season brings,” said Stirling.

The event started with warm-ups at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, followed by preliminary heats at 8:30.

Afternoon final warm-ups begin at 4:00 p.m., with finals starting at 5:00 p.m.  The competition will continue until July 7th.

Visit Inconnu’s Facebook page for updated results from the swim meet.