Seven swimmers podium at Nickel City meet

The switch from the short-course season to long-course racing has just begun, with swimmers across the province making the necessary adjustments.

With that in mind, events like the NEOR Developmental Meet, hosted at the Laurentian Olympic Gold Pool from April 10-12, provide an invaluable opportunity to work out the kinks.

Seven members of the Nickel City Aquatics would post podium finishes, with the one-two punch of Joseph Deni (two gold and a bronze) and Gavin Staalstra (three gold, two silver) leading the way.

Also achieving second place finishes were Sidney Musico (100m butterfly), Niko Ovaska (400m freestyle) and Taggart Zuck (50m butterfly). Cracking a top-three placement with bronze medal performances were Paul-Emile Pelletier (50m backstroke) and Joshua Jeanveau (100m backstroke & 100m butterfly).

Looking to establish a number of personal best times, and perhaps attain a provincial standard or two, Staalstra managed to achieve the first half of his weekend goal. The Grade 11 student at Lively District Secondary School had been hoping competitive drive would carry through to part two of the equation, specifically in the 800m freestyle.

“I tend to go easier off the dive, then look for the people who are beside me,” he said. “I try and make sure that I know their times, and then I can race them, to try and get the time I want.”

After struggling, for a while, to establish new PBs, Staalstra is finally starting to see, just recently, some payoff for his persistent training.

“I was plateauing for about a year, all through Grade 11,” Staalstra said. “My teammates were taking off time, so I eventually just got mad, and started training harder and harder every day.”