Riverside has many opportunities for students to pursue their passion when it comes to sports. Riverside’s swim team has many dedicated athletes, such as sisters, Shelby & Kaitlyn Connelly, and Trey Schwingenschloegl. Recent competitions, such as the Regional meet on Thursday,
October 24 the and upcoming Provincial meet provide opportunities for these athletes to improve their personal best times, help them improve for their club team, as well as, potentially bring home a banner for the school.
On October 24 the team did really well with four top place finishes, three-second place finishes, and three third-place finishes. Coach Paul Gangnes is very proud of the team. “If I could describe Riverside’s swim team in one word, it would be supportive; every individual is very supportive of one another and all the different background strengths in swimming they bring to the table. My favorite part is just watching everybody supporting each other out in the pool no matter what their ability is,” said Gangnes.
Shelby has been a part of that positive culture for four years. Although this is her last year swimming on the Riverside swim team, she still feels connected. “I do not truly feel that I am leaving the Riverside swim team; I am close friends with all the athletes on the team and train and compete with them practically every day in the summer. I know I can trust in my sister and the other remaining Poco Marlins members to keep Riverside’s swim team strong,” said grade 12 Shelby Connelly
Shelby is an amazing swimmer with her best strokes being Freestyle and Butterfly; her best events are the 50 and 100m Butterfly, as well as the 50 and 100m Freestyle. Not only is Shelby an incredible swimmer and team player, but an amazing sister as well.
“My sister and I are in separate divisions, which means we rarely get the chance to race against one another; although we cannot race each other, she consistently pushes me to be better and live up to her accomplishments, in and outside of practice
Her consistent support means everything to me, and I am glad to have someone like her to train and compete with,” said grade 9 Kaitlyn.
Kaitlyn’s best race is the 200m Individual Medley, which is a combination of all four strokes. “This race is probably my least favorite and the hardest, yet somehow it is still my best race. This race is more on the long-distance side, meaning I have to have good endurance to succeed,” said Kaitlyn.
Grade 11 Trey Schwingenschloegl has been swimming on Riverside’s swim team for three years and this year is his last. Outside of school, his best race is the 200 fly, and in school, it is the 100 Fly. For the 200 Fly, his speed is two minutes and seven seconds, which is second in Canada for his age group. Schwingenschloegl hopes to go on swimming competitively after high school. “I am keeping Canadian and American Universities open because a lot of swimmers around my speed or faster are noticed by American Universities more,” said Schwingenschloegl.
Riverside’s swim team is a team of talented and committed swimmers. With the swim season coming to an end, Riverside is very proud of the swim team and how well they’ve represented Riverside.
