A whale of a good time

When the Abbotsford Whalers throw a birthday bash, they do it in style.

Upwards of 500 swimmers from across the Lower Mainland turned up for the 2008 edition of the Whalers’ annual invitational meet – the 50th such event in the local swim club’s history. And the Whalers could hardly picked a better weekend to celebrate, as the sun shone throughout the two-day competition.

“It was an unbelievable weekend – it was gorgeous, it was sunny, and we had 534 swimmers,” enthused Whalers president Madeleine Morin-Aikema. “It was just amazing.”

Six Whalers swimmers commemorated the club’s golden anniversary by winning gold in their respective aggregate divisions: Emilie Aikema (Div. 2 girls), Kira Poirier (Div. 4 girls), Lawrence Lam (Div. 7 boys), Vanessa Rivas (O Cat. 1 girls), Charlie Berard (O Cat. 1 boys) and Michelle Olive (O Cat. 2).

Aggregate runners-up included Brianna Utas (Div. 1 girls), Eric Martel (Div. 2 boys), Lauren Jones (Div. 4 girls), Jake Niiranen (Div. 6 boys), Martika Burbine (Div. 7 girls), Nathaniel Janzen (Div. 7 boys), Connie Monro (Div. 8 ladies), Cheyenne Ghag (O Cat. 1 girls) and Ramera Abraham (O Cat. 2).

Additionally, local swimmers broke a trio of meet records. Kira Poirier set a new standard in the Div. 4 girls 50m fly, while Lawrence Lam broke the record in the Div. 7 boys 100m backstroke. Lam also teamed up with Nathaniel Janzen, Chris Holden and Kyle Becker to set a new Div. 7 boys relay record.