Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
EMERGING STAR 鈥 Twelve-year-old Thomas Bakica, pictured swimming earlier this season, broke two club records at the AA swim championships in Chilliwack, B.C.
Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
EMERGING STAR 鈥 Twelve-year-old Thomas Bakica, pictured swimming earlier this season, broke two club records at the AA swim championships in Chilliwack, B.C.
Thomas Bakica and his older brother, Luke Bakica, helped the Yukon put together another successful swim meet this month.
Thomas Bakica and his older brother, Luke Bakica, helped the Yukon put together another successful swim meet this month.
The swim siblings were joined by Brooklyn Massie at the 2015 Swim BC Short Course AA Championships in Chilliwack, B.C., held Feb. 13 to 15.
Right from the get-go, the Whitehorse Glacier Bears swimmers revealed they were there to compete.
Thomas Bakica, 12, broke a longtime club record in the 200 individual medley (IM) and placed sixth in his age category.
Massie, also 12, improved her time in the 100 back and went on to represent the territory in the B final. She swam it very well and very brave from the beginning, placing second for a 10th overall placement.
On Saturday, each of the Bakica brothers qualified for the 200 breast A final.
Both swimmers were very excited and tried hard to correct the little mistakes from their preliminary swims in the finals.
Luke Bakica, 14, and Thomas Bakica, both finished sixth in their respective age categories.
鈥淢y heart is pounding and I tried my best,鈥 the younger brother told coach Malwina Bukszowana post-race.
Meanwhile, Massie swam a smart 400 free race, said Bukszowana.
鈥淎s soon as she dove off the blocks, she was fighting and her big time improvement, as well as a good race strategy, made her smile,鈥 the coach said.
Despite not qualifying for a final swim, Massie was delighted with her race and said it felt good to swim that fast.
On Sunday, Thomas Bakica broke another club record 鈥 this time in the 400 IM.
鈥淭hat was a great swim with a lot of improvement in his time,鈥 said Bukszowana, who marveled at her pupil鈥檚 solid underwater movement off each wall. 鈥淗is fly kicks always brought him in front of the other boys.鈥
While she noted the youngster still has room to grow, the coach said the ability to master all strokes in the 400 IM by age 12 bodes well for his future.
Thomas Bakica finished eighth in his age category.
Meanwhile, Massie took her coach鈥檚 recommendations on the 200 back very seriously, and aimed to take a lead right from the start.
She swam a very good race but was ultimately disqualified for a false start after she left the block too early.
鈥淭his for sure is a good lesson (in patience),鈥 Bukszowana said. 鈥淏rook knows now that she can swim it very fast.鈥
The Bakica brothers both qualified for final swims in the 100 breast Sunday. Luke Bakica swam more than one second faster in his B final than his preliminary swim and finished 14th, while Thomas Bakica qualified for the A final and finished fifth.
鈥淭his was a successful meet for our Whitehorse Glacier Bears,鈥 Bukszowana concluded.
鈥淎 very important part of any sport is to have fun. Our swimmers enjoyed most of their races and it was nice to see them tired but still smiling.鈥
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