The Squamish Pirates Swim Club lost its regional meet because of the rock slide but that didn't stop 19 athletes from swashbuckling down the Howe Sound to compete at the replacement North Vancouver Winter Club venue on Saturday and Sunday (Aug. 2-3)."That was really fun for the kids," said assistant coach Shelagh Thompson of the last-minute boat ride. "They had a really good time."The team's buoyancy paid off as six members qualified for the provincials being held in Trail Aug. 15-17 despite tough competition from five larger clubs including the North Shore Winter Club, North Vancouver Cruisers, Vancouver Vikings and Vancouver Supersharks.Swimmers earned a top three placing or a difficult provincial qualifying time (PQT) at the "A" level to advance. Deven Bane-Allen qualified provincially for all four events in the Cat O-2 division in which she competed. She placed first in the 100m butterfly and 100m backstroke, and second in the 50m freestyle and the 100m freestyle."It's really hard to qualify in all your events," said Thompson.Jessica Johnstone qualified in three out of four Division 4 events with two PQTs. She earned PQTs in the 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley, and actually tied for third with teammate Sarah Dale in the 50m butterfly. That means both Pirates get to advance. Dale also qualified in the 100m backstroke with a PQT third place finish. Assistant coach Allyson Corbett led by example, winning the Division 7 100m backstroke and placing third in the 100m freestyle.Young swimmer Anders Farr won the Division 1 100m individual medley with a PQT-worthy time of one minute 42 seconds. He'll also race at the provincials in the 100m freestyle event. Both events went right down to the wire as he needed to out-touch other competitors at the wall to earn his spots."That's a very exciting accomplishment for him," said Thompson. "There can be a lot of cheers and a lot of jeers."Meanwhile, Blair Chartrand placed third in the Division 5 boys 100m breaststroke. A number of other Pirates advanced through heats to reach the finals or recorded personal best, including Claire Parker, Emily Hennigar, Kristianne Chartrand, Lauren Aikens, Sierra Farr, Teaghen Healey, Huntington Jasperson, Wyatt Pedersen, Cedric St. Pierre Borchert, Eric Aikens and Eli Chappell.
