Keegan Zanatta and Alec Page head to England

Island Swimming athletes, Keegan Zanatta and Alec Page left for England yesterday with Coach, Neil Harvey and the rest of Canada's Youth team. Check back for updates.

Island swimmer excelling at southern NCAA school

By Travis Paterson - Victoria News
Published: December 23, 2010 10:00 AM
Updated: December 23, 2010 10:11 AM

Click here to read the article

Sarah Mabee-Hall and Heidi Bradley earn their spot on the Pacific Coast All-Star Team

Congratulations girls! Read all about it...

St. Michaels University School continues to support Island Swimming

Island Swimming is pleased to announce St. Michaels University School as a Platinum Sponsor for World Trials...read more

Michael Mason & Co. Ltd to donate all the medals for World Trials

Island Swimming is pleased to announce Michael Mason & Co. as the first World Trials Platinum Sponsor...read more

Island Swimming receives Club Coaching Grant from Chevrolet

read about it...

Big weekend ahead for Island Swimming Athletes

ISA athletes are attending 2 meets this weekend; the Paul Bergen Junior International and the Christmas Cracker. Read more...

We're on Facebook

Check it out and "LIKE US" today

Christmas Gifts for ISA families on-line at TAS

NEW...Check it out! Just in time for Christmas! Island Swimming families can now shop on-line at Team Aquatics and get 20% off the retail price. Read about it...

New Club Records set at Canada Cup

Congratulations to Julia Wilkinson, Alexa Komarnycky and Alec Page. Also, our Senior Girls set 2 new Club Relay Records. Read all about it.

FAST TIMES Newsletter Volume 2

Click here to view Issue No.2 of Island Swimming's Newsletter

ISA Athletes and Coaches Recognized at Big Splash

Congratulations to Island Swimming’s coaches and athletes including Ryan Cochrane, Randy Bennett, Jeremy Bagshaw, Neil Harvey, Julia Wilkinson and Stefan Hirniak who cleaned up this week in Toronto at the CN Big Splash Awards Gala! The talent of Island Swimming’s best was highlighted at the annual gala recognizing outstanding achievements by Canadian swimmers and their coaches during the 2009-10 season.

Way to go Island!!!!

photo from www.swimming.ca

click here to read the full story on our website

Would you like to gain exposure on a National Television Broadcast?

The CBC has confirmed that they will be televising this event. We have put together some great sponsorship/advertising opportunities for Canadian companies. Please contact Nancy Brothers at brothershome@shaw.ca to receive a sponsorship package.

14 ISA athletes heading to Toronto this week for Canada Cup

Click here for Island Swimming News Story

Some programs are cancelled today, due to snow

There will be NO SWIM PRACTICE today for the following Groups/Pools...

Juan de Fuca, Sooke Seaparc, Esquimalt, Sidney Piranhas

All Commonwealth Pool programs from OW to TAG are cancelled

The National Group will still swim,(check email for details)

Crystal Pool IS OPEN FOR PRACTICE unless buses stop running(use discretion and check your email for updates)

Psych Sheets for the Island Cup and Jamboree

The psych sheets for the Island Cup and the 12 & under Jamboree have been posted to the meet pages. Please go to www.islandswimming.com then go to Swim Meets on the menu bar and choose either the Island Pacific Cup or the ISA 12 & under Jamboree.

ISA FAST TIMES Newsletter - Issue No.1

CLICK HERE to view

First Cut of the BC Senior Circuit Psych Sheets are Up

The attachment can be found on our Upcoming Events, BC Senior Circuit #1

11 Island Swimming Athletes named to Fall Provincial Teams

Congratulations to the following Island Swimming athletes on being named by Swim BC to Fall provincial teams.

Youth & Junior Team: (In photo above) Taylor Padington, Will Brothers, Keegan Zanatta, Naomi Ellis and Alec Page. Click here for Island Swimming News Story.

Prospects Team: Sarah Mabee-Hall, Cassandra Purdon, Madison Powell, Luke Polson, Heidi Bradley, Peter Brothers and Coach Cindy Mabee. Click here for Island Swimming News Story.

Island Swimming Distance Group Highlighted in "Swim News"

Gold for Ryan! Bronze for Stefan and Julia!

Day 1 of the Commonwealth Games...New Canadian Record for Stefan in the 200m butterfly and 3 medals for Island Swimming Athletes; Ryan Cochrane, Stefan Hirniak and Julia Wilkinson.

Click here for CBC sports write up and to watch Ryan's exciting gold medal win.

New blog post by Julia Wilkinson

Goodbye Singapore, hello India

Congratulations to Alec, Keegan and Will

These 3 ISA swimmers will be heading to Great Britain to train and compete.
Click here for Island Swimming news story

New time standards for 2010-2011

Click here for Island Swimming news item

New video on Stefan's blog

Follow the Canadian Commonwealth Games Team's journey to Singapore. Check out the new video on Stefan's blog www.stefanhirniak.com

Hopefully, Stefan can keep us all up to date as the team goes onto New Dehli, India to race in the Commonwealth Games. Please send pictures!

Please complete our new on-line registration today

Island Swimming has a new on-line registration system to help us streamline the entire registration process.

We require all new and "returning" members to please reserve your spot on-line prior to the "in person" registration day for your pool.

All swimmers must be properly registered prior to getting in the water.

Visit www.islandswimming.com and register today.

Island Swimming's Ryan Cochrane and Julia Wilkinson become bloggers

I just wanted to let everyone know that Team Aquatics has announced that 2 swimmers will be regular bloggers on their site. They will share tips, info and basically allow us to follow along on their swim journey as they travel around the globe.

Both Ryan and Julia have a new blog post dated August 30th.

I have added a link to their blog under website links on the right. Check it out... http://www.team-aquatic.com/blog/

Check out this great article by Island Swimming's Julia Wilkinson

http://www.cbc.ca/commonwealthgames/blog/2010/08/pan-pacs-highlight-jam-packed-summer.html

Michael Phelps presents medals on the final day of Jr. Pan Pacs

Well the Jr. Pan Pacific Championships have come to a close. The Canadian team won another 3 medals last night and Michael Phelps was there to present the last medal presentations which was very exciting. The kids say they all had a great time and what a great experience it was Everyone taking part in the meet from the Coaches to Chaperones and officials were just great- the kids were very well looked after! It was also fun getting to know all the other parents not only from Canada but from around the world.

Aloha from Maui and see you in Victoria!

The Brothers Family

Day 3 updates

Another beautiful day here in Maui! The pool here in Kehei is fantastic and its been a great organized meet. They have covered stands for spectators and you are really close to the pool edge to get a great view. They sing the Hawaiian national anthem before each final and the teams have given us some great entertainment with their various cheers. The Canadian team is full of spirit and we were treated to a great human chain cheer lead by Jeremy before finals last night.

Day 3 saw all the Island boys swim in the 400 free. Jeremy and Keegan were the top Canadians in the prelims and made the A final. Although a little off of their personal best times they both improved their time over prelims and finished 6th and 8th respectively. Will was the third best time in the Canadian boys with a new personal best time where he took 5 seconds off his old time from Nationals. He swam in the B final and ended up just slightly slower than the morning swim finishing 7th.

The finals saw the 4x100 relays which are always so exciting to watch. There are quite a few Canadian families here and we may be outnumbered by the US but we are loud! The girls team won an exciting silver medal just out touching the Aussies. The boys team which included Jeremy had a battle the whole way for third against Japan. It was even by the time Jeremy dove in and all the parents and other team mates screamed the entire 100 meters. He out touched Japan at the very end and Canada received another Bronze medal. So exciting!!

Day 4 sees Will and Kyle swim the 200 IM, Alec swim the 200 Breast and all the boys swim the 800 free.

Day 2 Jr. Pan Pacs

Day 2 saw the Canadian Team rise up and stick their nose on the podium. The Girls 4 X 200 free relay out touched the Ausies with a great sprint in the last 25 meters to the Silver. In the women's 100 breast Teresa Van Beilen took the Silver in a very close race with the top two going under the meet record. The Ausies and the Americans are power houses with many Sr. Pan Pac team member at this meet. It was great to see the Canadian team gain confidence and start to wedge themselves in the fight.

Day 2 had the Island boys swimming the 100 free and 400 IM. In the 100 free Jeremy made the B final and finished fourth. Alec and Will swam the 400 IM with both swimmers making the B final. Alec swam a 4:29 good enough for 3rd, while Will took nearly 4 seconds off his results from Sr. Nats swimming a 4:35 taking 5th in the B final. Those results would have easily got both boys gold medals at our National Age Group championships in there age division, just to put those swims into perspective. Both Alec and Will could still compete at this meet in 2 years.

Kyle and Keegan both got to swim for Canada on 4 X 200 meter free relay. Both swam close to personal bests. Jeremy swam in the A relay and Canada was just out touch by Japan for 3rd place for a medal. That was another exciting race.

Day 3 has the 400 free for the Island Boys. Go Island!! Go Canada!!

The Brothers Family

Day 1 at the Jr. Pan Pacs

Well this is a very fast meet. As fast or faster than our Sr. National Championships. Of the 8 events swam this evening 7 new Junior Pan Pac records were broken. So the Canadians are in tough. The Ausies have brought 8 swimmers from their Sr. Pan Pacific team. Of course the Americans are very strong with many US National finalists on their team.

The Island boys swam well today. Jeremy was the closest Canadian to the podium finishing 4th in the 200 free with close to a personal best at 1:50.91. Alec also made the A final in the 200 free and swam a respectable 1:54.40 for eighth.

In the 200 fly our import Kyle McIntee swam to a 5th place finish as the top Canadian with a time of 2:01.95

The 1500 was tight all the way through the field. Will Brothers led the Canadians in the morning heats with a PB of 15:55.60 eventually finishing 11th overall. Not bad for one of the youngest swimmers in the meet. Alex and Keegan swam in the final heat at night with another close race between the two teammates. Keegan swam to a 7th place finish with a time of 15:44 and Alec just behind in 15:47 for 8th place. It looks like the future of Canadian men's distance swimming is very healthy thanks to Ryan's success.

Tomorrow will bring up Jeremy, Kyle and Keegan in the 100 free. Will and Alec will take on the some the best 18 and under male swimmers in the world in the 400 IM.

The Brothers Family

Finals for Jr. Pan Pacs at 9pm our time tonight

Finals for the Jr. Pan Pacific Championships start tonight at 6pm Hawaiian time (9pm our time). We have the link for live results located on the right sidebar. There will be no live coverage however you should be able to view videos on demand of all the final swims via swim network.

LIVE RESULTS - Jr. Pan Pacs

http://www.star-meets.org/results/JrPanPacs/2010/

Great photos of our boys getting ready to represent in Hawaii

Thanks to the Brothers Family for these great photos of coach Neil with our swimmers training and getting ready to represent Canada at the Jr. Pan Pacific Championships in Kihei, Hawaii. It looks nice and warm.

The competition starts tomorrow...Go Canada!

Swimmers need core work 12 months of the year!!

Here is a link that Coach Neil asked to have posted a while ago (oops). With our athletes jumping back in the water in less than a month's time, it is time to get back into shape. Click on the link below for some "over the summer work".

http://www.t-nation.com/testosterone-magazine-631

Teams arrive in Hawaii for Jr. Pan Pacs

The teams for Jr. Pan Pacs have all arrived today. There are 10 countries participating with the four main Countries being Canada, USA, Australia and Japan.

The Island boys are ready to go. Alec, Keegan and Will have just finished a 2 week training camp at UBC. They had Dave Johnson from Cascade as their main coach for the camp and arrived in Hawaii last night. Jeremy and Kyle travelled from the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore with Neil.

The weather here is typical for August with hot temperatures early in the morning and the relief comes in the afternoon with strong trade winds. We have met a few other Canadian parents and we are getting ready with our red and white gear to cheer on Jr. Team Canada.

The Brothers Family

Day 5 at YOG

The heats today saw some good swimming from our group!!

Lindsay Delmar qualified 1st in the 100 fly and Lauren Earp moved on to the semifinal of the 50 free with a very good swim.

The girls 4x100 freestyle relay finished a surprising 3rd place going into finals. This is with our 2 breaststrokers splitting under a minute!

The finals saw Lauren finish with an excellent 26.6 50 free at 13th place, not enough to advance to the finals. Lindsay swam a solid 60.6 to qualify 2nd into tomorrows final in the 100 fly.

To finish off the night, the girls went to town to finish with the BRONZE medal in the 4x100 freestyle relay. It was a very exciting race with amazing split from each of the swimmers.

Watch tomorrow for the girls 200 breaststroke where we have 2 of the top swimmers in that event; the womens 100 fly with Lindsay; the boys 200 fly wher Thomas Jobin and Kyle McIntee make their appearance in the 200fly. We also have the mixed 4x100 medley relay where we have a very good chance of challenging for a medal.

stay tuned for day six!

Neil

Day 4 finals

After a very rough morning we had another great finals!!

Tera Van Beilen won the 100 breaststroke and Rachel Nicol got the bronze. It was great to hear the Canadian anthem again and this time with 2 flags on the pole.

It was a very exciting race as the Auzzie came fighting back in the last 25 meters. Tera overpowered both to take the GOLD by a tenth. A pair of very happy Canadians walked around the pool after they were handed their medals by swimming great Alexander Popov!!

We have 2 more days of competition so stay tuned for more great swimming.

Neil

Day 3 Finals

It was a shorter program but it was still full of thrills for the Canadian swim team on the third night of swimming at the Youth Olympic Games.

Canada captured another hard fought bronze medal to bring the medal total up to 3.

Lauren Earp was in 5th place at the 50 turn in the 100 freestyle when she decided to have a go at a medal. Her blazing second 50 got her past most of the field to get to the bronze.

In the 100 breaststroke semifinal, Canadian swimmers continued to control the program with a first place from Rachel Nicol and a third place from Tera Van Beilen. The time were just off personal bests, but the race for medals tonight looks very exciting.

Day 2 Finals - Gold and Bronze for Team Canada!

We had a great night of swimming last night! Jeremy won the bronze medal in the 200 freestyle, just ahead of Chad in 4th. It was a very exciting race with 50 meters to go both the silver and the bronze were up for grabs. It was Canada's first Olympic medal. Both swimmers had personal best times on this swim.

Then, in the very next race Rachel Nicol won the GOLD MEDAL in the 50 breaststroke. She was even at the 25 and then swam away from the group through to the finish line. It was a great feeling for our team to watch another medal go up on the board. The medal ceremonies were amazing for us. It was great to hear the Canadian anthem played in front of the crowd.

To finish the night off, our women's 4x100 medley relay finished an excellent 4th place. The chinese relay was disqualified for a takeover infraction, which moved us up into near medal territory. We had excellent swims from Rachel (new to backstroke :), Tera Van Beilen on breastroke, Lindsay Delmar on fly and Lauren Earp on freestyle.

It was a good night for us.

Rachel and I got home well after midnight due to backlogs in the doping room. Oh well that's life.

No pictures on this blog as I did not have enough time last night, but I will put some up this afternoon. Enjoy!!

Neil

Day 2 Heats

This morning we had another solid bunch of swims. Everyone got through to the finals!!

Lauren Earp swam a solid 57.0 to qualify 3rd for the semis, Lindsay Del Mar finished 6th in a very tight field for tonight's final of the 200 fly. Chad Bobrosky was 4th while Jeremy finished in a tie for 5th going into the final of the 200 freestyle.
Our women's 4x100 medley relay qualified a respectable 5th place. That is without a backstroker on the squad. Thanks to Rachel Nicole who stepped up with a 1.09 backstroke leg, just off her best time for the 100 breaststroke!!

Tonight we have those finals swims plus Rachel is going into the 50 breast in 1st place. It will be exciting.

Attached is a scene from the village square after lunch today.

Neil