Speedy participants and a fast pool helped Masters swimmers set two new world records, 26 Canadian and 12 BC records during the 2012 Canadian Masters Swimming Championships held in Kelowna over the May long weekend. A total of 86 clubs competed from across Canada and the United States, plus individual swimmers from as far away as United Kingdom and France.
The first world record to be broken was the Women's 200 Medley Relay for age group 200-239 by Victoria Masters team swimmers Lynn Yearwood (Back), Danielle Brault (Breast), Sarah MacDonald (Fly) and Andrée Brault (Free) in a time of 2:15.36. Deke Botsford of Campbell River Grey Whales also set a new world time for the 100m Fly (age group 45-49) in a time of 56:78. Penticton resident Karl Donoghue set a Canadian record (age group 70-74) for the 800m freestyle in a time of 12:09:79.
Seasoned competitors Fred Schulhof (93) of North Shore Masters and Hugh McGregor (93) of Victoria Crystal Silver Streaks, cut the opening ribbon together with Kelowna Mayor, Walter Gray, before heading back into the water.
"The Okanagan once again expressed its generosity with almost 200 volunteers assisting at the meet and tremendous support from our sponsors," said Jeanette Hoft, media spokesperson for the 2012 CMSC organizing committee. "The organizing committee - comprising Okanagan Masters, Westside Thunder Masters and Wine Country Masters - received several compliments on a well-run, fun and enjoyable meet with helpful and friendly volunteers and officials and a fast H2O pool." Amongst the 510 swimmers aged between 19 and 93, women outnumbered men by 11 percent . Both genders were well represented with 268 female swimmers and 242 males. The average age of competitors was 50, the youngest 19, and three competitors in their nineties.
In the Club Division competition, Okanagan Masters placed second after Edmonton Masters in the Large Club Division. Victoria Masters took third and Kamloops Sunstrokes fourth position. A local Kelowna club, Wine Country Masters, won the Championship Division for Small clubs.
Full results of the meet are available at http://www.okmasters.com/liveresults/
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