ESWIM Takes on Gull Lake at Open Water Championships.

Twenty-two ESWIM swimmers participated in the Swim Ontario Open Water Swimming Championships last weekend. The event was held under clear weather with moderate water temperatures.

For many participants, this event marked their initial experience with open water competition, resulting in several swimmers who were unfamiliar with the process. 

Prior to the start of the event, all swimmers completed registration, which included receiving tracking devices, having their fingernails and toenails checked, and having their swimmer numbers marked on their arms and backs.

Once this was done the swimmers were free to test the waters in a designated warm up area which also served as the start and finish line for the swim.

The event featured three races: 5 km, 3 km, and 1 km swims, plus a 4 x 500 mixed relay.

In the 5K race, ESWIM was represented by Mariana Cabezas Garzon from the HP Group who finished second over all just 3 seconds behind the winner.

Just Two ESWIM swimmers were brave enough to try the 3k race, both Casey Mercuri and Marta Ellul, from P2 Casey finished 15th out 32 swimmers while Ellum finished 22nd, both girls were in the 14-15 age category.

Next up was the mixed relay of Alkexander Pesevski, Elena Wieland, Milania McChesney and Ethan Lo. Each swimmer swam a 500 Meter loop. They finished in 8th place out of 51 teams.

The final race of the day was the 1k swim where the bulk of the swimmers were entered. 

Alice Boldyrev was the Top 11-12 girl, taking home first place overall honours beating all of the other 56 participants

Valencia Pavlovic finished 5th/56

Avery Service finished 29th/56

Rumbidzai Madzima Finished 41st/56

Hailey Kozma finished 42nd/56

Caitlin Londono finished 43rd/56

In the girls 13-14 race Elena Wieland exited the water victorious taking top honours outlasting all 99 of the other competitors.

Milania Mchesney finished 5th/99

Emma Best Finished 6th/99

Niki Petrov Finished 27th/99

Ava Janeiro Finished 67th/99

In the boys’ races, Alexander Pesevski swam his way to a 2ndoverall finish in the 11-12 boys’ division beating 38 other swimmers.

Chase Best Finished 9th/40

PJ Ciafaloni Finished in 14th/40

Jack Butler finished 31st/40

Mattew Iwasjuk Finished 32nd/40

In the 13-14 boys’ division Ethan Lo found himself in the medals with a 3rd place finish. This division had 56 competitors.

Daniel Liu Finished 41st/56

Freddy Ciafaloni Finished 43rd/56

The event was a clear success, with swimmers enjoying new experiences and having fun, as shown by their smiles. We look forward to bringing this exciting competition to more ESWIM swimmers next year.