Diving Into Regionals

On 14 February, the Marc Garneau swim team took part in their regional competition at the Etobicoke Olympium. Going up against 600 other competitors in the south region, MGCI swimmers fought to qualify for the City Championship, held on 22 February.

Regionals began around 8:30 am and lasted until around 4:00 pm. The 50 meter pool was split down the middle, with the south region on one side and the west region on the other. There were a total of 64 events and each event was split into heats of up to 8 swimmers per heat.

Swimmers who placed first in their region or top twelve in the city will qualify for the City Championships. The Reckoner congratulates the following swimmers for their achievements while representing Marc Garneau at regionals:

Jenna Wong: 2nd Place – Women 100 SC Meter Butterfly Open, 6th Place – Women 100 SC Meter IM Open

Hanlin Cheng: 4th Place – Women 100 SC Meter Breaststroke JR High School, 7th Place – Women 50 SC Meter Breaststroke JR High School

Alex Guo: 1st Place – Men 50 SC Meter Breaststroke JR High School, 2nd Place – Men 100 SC Meter Breaststroke JR High School

Safiya Erdogan: 9th Place – Women 100 SC Meter Breaststroke SR High School

Owen Huang: 1st Place – Men 100 SC Meter Breaststroke Open, 1st Place – Men 200 SC Meter IM Open

Gabriel Luo: 2nd Place – Men 100 SC Meter IM Open, 3rd Place – Men 100 SC Meter Breaststroke Open, 4th Place Men 200 SC Meter IM Open

Bing Li: 10th Place – Men 50 SC Meter Freestyle SR High School, 8th Place – Men 50 SC Meter Butterfly SR High School

Joan-Shiao Chen: 1st Place – Women 100 SC Meter IM Open, 1st Place – Women 100 SC Meter Freestyle Open, 2nd Place – Women 50 SC Meter Freestyle SR High School

Matthew Martin: 2nd Place – Men 200 SC Meter IM Open, 2nd Place – Men 100 SC Meter Backstroke Open

Jeffrey Qiu: 14th Place – Men 50 SC Meter Breaststroke JR High School

Jenna Wong, Hanlin Cheng, Alex Guo, Safiya Erdogan, Owen Huang, Gabriel Luo, Bing Li, Joan-Shiao Chen, Matthew Martin, and Jeffrey Qiu will be competing at the City Championships later this month.

This year, the swim team consists of 27 students ranging from highly experienced veterans to new swimmers, encompassing all grades and genders. The team is much larger in comparison to last year, which can be mostly attributed to improved advertising. To attract attention, announcements and posters were made to appeal to potential members. This encouraged many new swimmers to come forward as well as convinced experienced swimmers to join the team. When asked about why she joined, Hanlin Cheng said: “I swam since I was younger and some of my friends were joining. I thought it was a cool opportunity to do a sport.”

Mrs. Woods has been coaching the swim team for the past 10 years. “I love swimming,” said Mrs. Woods, “and I like to make it so that any student can partake in the sport.” The swim team does not require students to try out, which allows swimmers with less experience to improve and learn new skills through practices.

Another key member of the swim team is the captain, Joan-Shiao Chen. Joan has been part of the swim team for four years and has served as the liaison between Mrs. Woods and the team. “My main priority is making sure everyone knows what’s going on and that no one is left out,” she said. Prior to this year, there was no proper captain, making it difficult for Mrs. Woods to reach out to the swimmers.

Because Marc Garneau does not have a pool, the swimmers practice at Don Mills Collegiate Institute. The team began practices towards the end of November, practicing twice a week at the pool as well as once a week on dry land. All 27 of MGCI’s swimmers competed in two mini-meets to qualify for regionals.