The Orca Swim Club started off the competitive schedule with a bang last weekend as they splashed and dashed to some impressive finishes at the Penticton Iron Sprint and Jamboree meets.

Leading the way in the Iron Sprint was 12-year-old Jamie Ferguson with wins in the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly.

Ferguson added a pair of second place finishes in the 100 backstroke and the 100 breaststroke races. The 100 backstroke smashed the previous club record by over two seconds.

Just for good measure, she took third in the 100 freestyle as well. “Jamie showed lots of improvement on all of her strokes this weekend so the high placings in the stroke swims were a nice surprise,” said Orca head coach Tom Best.

But Ferguson had her best performance in the 200 medley, a grueling combination of the four competitive strokes- butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. Her final time met the pre-qualifying standard for the national age group championship meet. “I was so excited when I found out. I really wasn’t expecting it,” said Ferguson.

Paige Miskiman, 14, continued to show strong improvement in the 100 freestyle with a third place showing.  

Nine-year-old Haley Berrisford showed improvement in all of her swims with her top finish a fourth in the 800 freestyle. The 800 free consists of 32 lengths of the pool but that didn’t deter Berrisford as she knocked a minute off of her previous time.

Kelsey Jenner, 16, also had a great meet according to Best with her top finish being a fifth in the 100 breaststroke.

“After the meet I know what things I have to work on more but I’m happy with the results so far,” Jenner said.

Kaitlin Goodman competing in her first meet as an 11-year-old had solid performances in all of her swims.

In the Jamboree meet for novice level swimmers, Orca had a strong showing from it’s small squad.

Elia Rodriguez started the day swimming the 200 medley for the first time. First time jitters were left at home as she won the race in a time fast enough to qualify for the next level of competitions. She added a third in the 50 breast, and top six swims in all of her other outings.

Being a first timer didn’t bother Julia Belmonte either.

She took the 50 backstroke and added seconds in the 100 medley and the 50 butterfly.

Other top three finishes were posted by Madison Hilgersom in the 100 medley and Morgan Hilgersom in the 25 butterfly.

They combined with Rodriguez and Kaci Van Horlick for an exciting third place finish in the 4x50 freestyle relay.

The team next sees action with an in-house meet Nov. 1 at the Summerland Aquatic Centre.