CANMORE – Teenage rebellion was in full force at Canmore’s Quarry Lake over the weekend with tons of competitive swimmers taking over the 2019 Grizzly Open Water Swim.
Swimmers dove head first in the chilly waters in 500-metre, 1,500m and 3,000m races circling the lake.
In the 3,000-metre race, Calgary’s Mathieu Cyr, 16, finished as the overall winner, Edmonton’s Ricardo Parro, 20, was second and in third was William Bissett, 17 of Calgary.
Cyr aggressively started the six-lap race, separating himself from the pack in order to avoid clutters and congestion.
“Then in the last lap, just give everything I can,” said Cyr, who trains with Cascade Swim Club.
The competitive teen swimmer finished at a time of 37:57.3 and said youth was on his side, as well as the other teens competing at Quarry Lake.
“I believe that by the time you get to 16 [years old] to probably about 21 or 20, you’re prime for swimming,” he said.
The top female in the 3,000m was Elleri Dunn, 16, of Calgary, who was seventh overall.
“A lot of the teenagers here today, I recognize them from other clubs out of Calgary, so a lot of them are competitive swimmers who train throughout the entire year,” said Dunn, a member of the Calgary Patriots Swim Club.
The top placing local was Mercedes MacDougall in 13th.
The top finishers in the 1,500m race was Calgary’s Kamryn Leslie, 14, and in the 500m was Calgary’s Madilyn Connell, 12.
“I wasn’t expecting to win because I came here with my teammates and I’m not really an open water swimmer as much,” Leslie said, who trains with the University of Calgary. “I have seen a lot of kids I know from swim competitions here … we’re all pretty high level swimmers and we all train a lot.”
Second overall in the 1,500m race was Quinnlan Bymoen, 14, and in third was Eliza Housman, 14.
The 1,500’s top male was Shane Besler, finishing fourth overall and the top local was Raphael Spinner, finishing 15th.
In the 500m race, Frances Farrant, 13, and Amy Dewar, 32, were second and third, respectively.
The top finishing local was Earl Emberton, 66, finishing in fourth overall.
