麻豆社区

Alex Petriw鈥檚 swimming season ended with a splash this weekend. The 13-year-old Glacier Bear made the trip to Kamloops without his teammates to swim in seven finals en route to winning three medals.

Petriw started early, striking gold in the 1,500-metre freestyle event Friday. Petriw swam a textbook race and shaved 43 seconds off his previous best time to post a 20:50.54.

鈥淗e attacked during the hardest part of the race,鈥� said coach Malwina Bukszowana. 鈥淭his move helped him to swim away from the other competitor from B.C. and to win this race.鈥�

But Petriw wasn鈥檛 finished Friday. He swam in two more finals, an A-final in the 50-metre freestyle, where he finished eighth and a B-final in the 100-metre backstroke.

On day two of the BC鈥圫ummer AA championships, Petriw swam in the B-final for 100-freestyle.鈥圱he budding long-distance swimmer then won his second gold medal in the 400-metre freestyle.

On the final day of the swim meet, Petriw swam in the same heat and lane in both races, eight. But he qualified for A-finals in both events.

First up, the 200-freestyle.

鈥淎lex [swam] very smart, keeping his eye on the other boys and catching up with a great finish,鈥� said Bukszowana.

He won a bronze in the event, taking another four seconds off his best time.

Petriw then swam his final event, the 200-metre backstroke, using the same strategy. He finished fourth, again taking four seconds off his time.

The meet was a good season closer for Petriw, said Bukszowana.

鈥淗e made a big improvement in many skills during the entire year,鈥� said Bukszowana. 鈥淗is hard work payed off.鈥�

Without his Glacier Bears team, Petriw made new B.C. friends and always had a crew cheering him on in finals.

鈥淚t is always good to see how swimming changes the young people,鈥� said Bukszowana. 鈥淚t builds up their confidence and helps to start conversations with other athletes that have something in common with you.鈥�