THURSDAY, August 9, 2012 ⢠17
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Eight Otters qualify for Provincial championships No fewer than eight Merritt Ottersâ swimmers have qualified for the BCSSA Provincials in Nanaimo from August 17-19 following the Okanagan Regional Championships in Kamloops this past weekend. Bianca Cavaliere (Div. 1) and Taylor Carmichael (Div. 5) led the way for the Otters at the Brock Pool on Saturday and Sunday. Cavaliere, 9, took first in her 50m freestyle and backstroke races as well as in the100m freestyle. She finished second in the 50m butterfly event. Her winning time of 1:21.00 in the 100 free ranks her number one in the province for summer swimmers. Fifteen-year-old Carmichaelâs victories came in the 50m butterfly, 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly events as well as in the 200m indi-
vidual medley race. She is ranked number one in the province in no fewer than three of her four events: 50 fly (31.14), 100 fly (1:09.60) and 200 IM (2:36.06). Also qualifying in four events was Merrittâs Reese Paterson (Div. 2), while Dylan Carmichael and Cassie OâFlaherty (Div. 3) along with Tyrel Narciso (Div. 5) qualified in one individual event apiece. In addition, Otters Rahul Chhabra and Cameron Thompson will join Narciso and the younger Carmichael on the Div. 5 boys freestyle relay team in Nanaimo thanks to a first-place
finish at Regionals. Carmichael, Cavaliere, Paterson and OâFlaherty will be swimming on the regional relay teams in their respective divisions at Provincials. All told, 16 of Merrittâs 35 swimmers in attendance at Regionals had one or more top-8 finishes in their races. The top three in each event automatically qualified for the Provincial Championships. Otter relay teams picked up five top-3 finishes on the weekend. Points-wise, the Merritt Otters placed fifth overall as a team.
(Above) Members of the Merritt Otters Swim Club gathered for a big team photo at Regionals on the weekend. Stef Zabek (Right) Young guns in the pool at the Okanagan Championships included (clockwise) Reese Paterson, Dylan Carmichael, Cameron Thompson, Paige Asseltine and Riya Chhabra. (Below) Otters Rahul Chhabra, Cassie OâFlaherty and Haley Zabek cheer on their coach Gia Bogetti in the Div. 8 200 IM race. Ian Webster/Herald
2012 BCSSA INTERIOR REGIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS Kamloops, B.C. - August 4-5
MERRITT OTTERS TOP 8 FINALISTS Div. 1
Bianca Cavaliere Beau Paterson
50 Free (1st), 50 Fly (1st), 50 Back (1st), 100 Free (1st) 100 Free (8th)
Div. 2
Reese Paterson Liam Warren Brennan OâFlaherty
50 Fly (2nd), 50 Back (3rd), 100 Free (4th), 100 IM (5th) 100 Free (7th), 50 Fly (8th) 50 Breast (5th), 100 IM (6th)
Div. 3
Cassie OâFlaherty Dylan Carmichael
50 Breast (1st), 50 Fly (6th), 100 IM (6th) 50 Breast (3rd), 50 Fly (6th), 100 IM (6th)
Div. 4
Nicolas LaBounty Jamie Neill Rahul Chhabra Cameron Thompson
50 Free (7th) 100 Breast (6th) 200 IM (7th) 50 Fly (6th), 50 Free (7th), 100 Breast (7th)
Div. 5
Erin Thompson Taylor Carmichael Tyrel Narciso
100 Breast (4th), 50 Free (8th), 200 IM (8th) 50 Fly (1st), 100 Fly (1st), 100 Free (1st), 200 IM (1st) 100 Back (3rd), 100 Breast (4th), 200 IM (4th), 50 Fly (7th)
Div. 8
Koren Lefebvre Gia Bogetti
50 Fly (2nd), 100 Back (5th) 200 IM (1st)
Relays Div. 3 Girls Medley (Laura Lefebvre, Cassie OâFlaherty, Bianca Cavaliere, Haley Zabek) 3rd Div. 8 Girls Medley (Gia Bogetti, Taylor Carmichael, Erin Thomsen, Nicola Labounty) 3rd Div. 1 Boys Free (Mathias Redknap, Evin Baird, Avin Gayfer, Lian Gayfer) 3rd Div. 5 Boys Free (Tyrel Narciso, Cameron Thompson, Rahul Chhabra, Dylan Carmichael) 1st Div. 8 Girls Free (Taylor Carmichael, Koren Lefebvre, Jamie Neill, Erin Thomsen) 3rd
MERRITT OTTERS QUALIFYING FOR PROVINCIALS Taylor Carmichael Bianca Cavaliere Dylan Carmichael Cassie OâFlaherty Tyrel Narciso Cameron Thompson Rahul Chhabra Reese Paterson