P.A. Shark capsizes provincial swimming record

“When I was quite a bit younger and swimming was the main sport I did, the 200 m backstroke was one of my best races so that’s why I decided to throw it into the mix,” she said. “I know how to swim it but I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of times.”

Anne also added to her medal haul with a gold in 800 m freestyle; a silver in the 200 m and 400 m freestyle events, and a bronze for 200 m Individual Medley. She admitted that in the weeks leading up to the competition she had actually been quite sick.

“I literally finished antibiotics on the Monday, got back to training on the Tuesday and then raced Friday and Saturday. To be honest my mindset going into this meet was just to go enjoy it and reconnect with people.”

Anne, who is now an accomplished Ironman athlete, is busy getting ready for next month’s Olympic distance triathlon in Calgary and also plans to compete later this summer at the Frank Dunn triathlon.

The three-day competition in Saskatoon was held from May 16-18 and provided an opportunity for the older athletes to compete against the same people they did when they were teenagers. Anne’s older sister Christina Charles powered to gold in the 1500 m Freestyle, and added a bronze in the 400 m Freestyle.

“I was very happy with my 1500 m freestyle race. I didn’t have the strongest start to my swim meet on Saturday and I felt like I raced to my potential in the 1500 m. With it being a 20-minute race, it’s short enough that you still have to go hard but not long enough that it’s an all out effort so it’s all about the pacing for that distance,” Christina said.

Christina Charles. (Facebook/ PA Sharks)

Natasha Nagle won silver in both the 1500 m and 800 m Freestyle, and snagged bronze in the explosive 50 m and 100 m Freestyle sprints.

Meanwhile, Hillary Walter made her first-ever Nationals appearance, cracking the top 10 in the 50 m and 100 m Breaststroke and 50 m Butterfly.

“We are incredibly proud of our Masters swimmers,” said Sharks head coach, Dr. Hazem Hussein in a social media post. “Their dedication, hard work, and sportsmanship were on full display in Saskatoon.”

From left to right: Anne Charles, Christina Charles, Natasha Nagle and Hillary Walter. (Facebook/ PA Sharks)

Also in the pool from Prince Albert was Roger Boucher, who swam with the Saskatoon Goldfins club.

In addition to winning bronze in the 100 individual medley, he also won gold in the 4×100 free relay; gold in 50 m breaststroke (provincial record for age category); silver for 4×100 medley relay, 100 breaststroke tied for gold, and got silver in the 4×50 medley relay.

The reason Boucher swam with the Saskatoon Goldfins was there were eight swimmers he swam with in age group swimming and so 22 years later, they were able to reunite. Also racing for the Saskatoon Goldfins was Sash Broda, who grew up in Prince Albert.

He won gold in 400 m individual medley and 200 m butterfly. He also won silver in 800 m free style, 200 m free, 400 m free and 100 butterfly. He broke provincial records for the 30-34 men’s age category including 800 m free with a time of 9:55.10 (the previous record was 10:10).

For 400, individual medley, his time was 5:17.97, which was almost 10 seconds faster than the previous record.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Blue Sky: @nigelmaxwell.bsky.social

by Nigel Maxwell

P.A. Shark capsizes provincial swimming record

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