The Squamish Titans triathlon club returned home from Kelowna on Sunday (April 17) with much heavier suitcases after picking up a handful of medals at the B.C. Masters Swimming Championship.
The club took home 10 golds, five silvers and six bronze medals at an event that saw more than 36 teams and 260 swimmers hit the pool.
It was a particularly strong weekend for Squamish swimmer Yi-khy Saw, who set a new B.C. record for the 400-metre individual medley. Saw finished the race in 4:46.75, a time that was only two seconds off the Canadian Masters record held by former professional swimmer Jeff Welechuk. Saw, who competed in the 1,500-metre freestyle at the Summer Olympic Games in Athens in 2004, has been a solid addition to the Titans.
Titans coach Jan Francke said he wants to try to bring a similar event to Squamish.
"Squamish has never been known for swimming, but it is changing now with our team finishing in the top positions and building our team to be bigger," Francke said. "We would like to organize a Masters swim meet, which would be the first adult swim competition in Squamish.
"I know that there is swim meet for the youth every year, but it is different in number and type of events as kids are doing just short distances and they have got little bit different rules. Organizing adult or master swim meet could bring more people into competitive swimming and show them how much fun they can have with swimming.
"As a lifeguard and coach I can see that there are many people swimming by themselves so it would be nice to put together more Squamish swimmers and build a strong Masters swimming club. I would like to see more people coming to swim meets because it is great social and sport event."
The Titans team that competed in Kelowna consisted of Saw, Francke, Olivia Morgan, Jenni Chancey, Andrew Clegg and Andrew Campbell. Francke said that all the Titans swimmers improved their times and several set new personal records.
The Kelowna event wrapped up the indoor season for the Titans. They will now move outdoors to compete in several short races in Kitsilano and the nine-kilometre English Bay Swim. The team will move to outdoor lake swims at Alice Lake in May to prepare for the summer.
For more information on the Titans, visit www.squamishtitans.com.
