GATORS TO WATER: OFSAA and CISAA competition
proved profitable for Havergal College swimmers. From
left, Alie Hunter, Hailey White and Angelina Pan.
Havergal swimmers talk of friendships, competitions and life aquatic
For Havergal College’s swim team, OFSAA in Brantford on March 3-4 was a chance for all 21 girls from the senior school to connect.
Seated in a causeway leading to the school’s swimming pool were Grade 9 students Alie Hunter and Hailey White, as well as Grade 10 Angelina Pan.
It was a chance for them to talk about life aquatic on their home turf.
“[OFSAA] is just a real fun experience, to be able to travel and stay with your friends,” Hunter said. “It’s also good to see everyone else improve around you.
“Because you train together and you work together, you want everyone to succeed just as much as you do.”
Hunter and White swim for the Granite Gators, a club team based out of the Granite Club at Bayview and Lawrence. They admitted they were a bit fatigued from their club team races.
Still, White won bronze in the 100-metre butterfly with a time of 1:05.19, a result she says she was pleased with.
“Well I didn’t do any best times, because I had just recently raced those races, but I definitely was happy, especially with my 100 fly because I was able to get third,” she said, adding OFSAA is a great meet to gauge the talent’s skill level.
Pan, who took part in the non-open junior level races, earned gold in both the 100-metre individual medley and the 100-metre, with times of 1:12.75 and 1:03.00 respectively.
Pan stepped away from competitive swimming with the North York Aquatic Club after Grade 7, so her trip to Brantford was all the more awe-inspiring.
“It was a big change for me because after I quit from competitive swimming, I haven’t been going to a lot of meets, so OFSAA was the first big swim meet that I had been to in a long time,” she said.
Though the podium eluded Hunter, she’s got a bigger race ahead of her.
She’s off to Victoria, B.C. April 3–6 for the Commonwealth Games trials at the Saanich Commonwealth Place.
There she will be competing in the 200-metre breaststroke, as well as two bonus events. OFSAA shed some light on some of the kinks she wants to iron out before her big swim meet.
“I would have wanted a better than I did in the 100-metre breaststroke,” she admitted. “I’ve been struggling with sprinting breaststroke this season.”
Hunter finished the 100-metre final with a time of 1:18.47, under seven seconds behind Andison Bailey of Smith Falls Collegiate, the gold medal winner in that category.
Over-all, Havergal dominated in the pool, finishing third in the open category with 236 points, and second in the 15-and-over category with 260 points.