CALGARY – Beni is on a jet to junior nationals.
Bow Valley Riptides swimmers hit the pool with big results at the summer provincials between July 27-30 in Calgary, where they won 12 medals (seven gold, two silver, three bronze) and smashed 27 club records.
However, there was one outstanding athlete, Beni Purnhauser, whose monster performance at provincials has punched his ticket to junior nationals in Toronto this week. The 15-year-old was faster than a blue shark and left competitors in his wake with a huge individual medal haul of five gold and one bronze in the 15-year-old boys’ category.
His coach, Tom Shackel, praised the young phenom and the rest of the team’s effort.
“I am really proud of all the athletes who participated and their hard work through the season paid off,” said Shackel. “Congrats to Beni on his overall award and all the athletes on their success throughout the year.”
The Riptides other big winner was Canmore’s Greta Dove, whose unsuspecting 50 metre freestyle quickly became a rare moment when she and two other athletes finished in a three-way tie for first place.
Celebrating her first-ever provincial gold, the 11-year-old swimmer was a little worried before the race had started, but she couldn’t stop smiling and laughing after it was over.
“I was really nervous before [the race] and then I saw [teammate] Rhys [Ashcroft] race. He won his 200 metre and that inspired me,” said Dove. “Then I was a little bit less nervous, but I was still kind of panicking. During the race I got out to a slower start but at the end, I started sprinting.”
The young swimmer, who’s been competing since she was seven, also won silver medals in the 100m and 400m freestyle, and a bronze in the 200m freestyle.
Dove said she had prepared diligently to be ready for provincials.
“During provincials, the team was super supportive and nice,” she said. “And my training was good.”
The multi-sport athlete recently competed at the Alberta Summer Games in Okotoks, where she won two bronze medals in mountain biking.
In boys’ 15, Rhys Ashcroft won gold and bronze in the 200 metre and 100m breaststroke.
In 16 and over boys’, Trevor Olson barely missed the podium, finishing fourth in the 800m freestyle.
Top results from other Riptides at provincials included four fifth-place results for Ethan Lake in boys 15; Len Akiyama finished seventh in the girls 14 200m backstroke; Kahlen Anderson finished 11th in girls 15+ 800m freestyle; and Dylan Lamarche placed 11th in the 13 boys 400m freestyle.
“Taking 10 swimmers to provincials at the end of the season is big for us, it’s 50 per cent of the training group,” said Shackel. “I hope this continues to help us build and show what we are as a program in Canmore.”
