Skip to content

Catalina club makes impressive medal haul at age group finals

The Red Deer Catalina Swim Club turned in an impressive performance at the Canadian Age Group Championships at the Talisman Centre during the weekend.The Red Deer club captured nine medals, two more than last year.“We had several RDCSC swimmers qualify for second swims and on top of the medals we had five others finish in nail-biting fourth place,” said Catalina head coach Mandi Smith.

CALGARY — The Red Deer Catalina Swim Club turned in an impressive performance at the Canadian Age Group Championships at the Talisman Centre during the weekend.

The Red Deer club captured nine medals, two more than last year.

“We had several RDCSC swimmers qualify for second swims and on top of the medals we had five others finish in nail-biting fourth place,” said Catalina head coach Mandi Smith.

Twelve-year-old Rebecca Smith led the Red Deer attack, capturing seven medals, including gold in the 200-metre freestyle.

She also won silver in the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 200m Individual Medley and bronze in the 200m backstroke, 400m I.M. and the 400m freestyle.

Madalyn Smith, 14, was second in the 50m breaststroke while Emma MacDermaid, 13, was third in the 1,500m freestyle.

Madalyn Smith also reached the Senior National qualifying time in the 50m breaststroke while 10 club records were broken.

Overall the RDCSC had 20 competitors at the meet.

“It was exciting, we never had that many qualifiers for a national level meet before,” said Mandi Smith. “My expectations were pretty high heading into the meet. I wanted to beat our medal count from last year and wanted to show the country who we are.”

This weekend is the final weekend of swimming for the club this season.

Rebecca Smith and Alana Skocdopole, 18, have qualified to compete for Canada’s national junior team in the North American Challenge Cup in Edmonton, competing against athletes from Mexico and the United States.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our results this season,” said Mandi Smith.

“Our swimmers have stood up time and time again in provincial, national and international environments and achieved top performances and amazing results. Not bad for a little team from a little pool.”