The following UVPCS swimmers have been selected to attend Vancouver Island Region training camps in the coming months:

VIR 10 & under Regional Training Camp – Ladysmith
January 24, 2009; 9am – 230pm
Patricia Horwood
Grace Thomas
Heidi Ullrich
John Willcox

Zero degrees ... and colder! +
One snowstorm +
Two overnights +
Three pools +
Four printers +
Five computers +
Six sessions +
Seven safety vests +
Eight whistles +
Nine stacks of curtains +
Ten potted trees +
Eleven portable bleachers +
... and twelve months until the 2009 Xmas Cracker Invitational!!

Times Colonist story
by Brian Drewry

Saanich Commonwealth Place will be busy this weekend as more than 600 swimmers hit the pool for Pacific Coast Swimming's Seventh Annual Christmas Cracker Invitational Meet.

The three-day event begins tomorrow with swimmers ranging in age from 7 to 26. Twenty-four swim clubs are expected to take part including teams from Alberta and the Yukon.

And to mark the season, the pool will be all decked out for the holidays and participants will receive Christmas crackers throughout the event.

Several UVPCS senior swimmers and coaches Ron Jacks and Peter Vizsolyi travelled to Toronto November 28-30 to compete in the Canada Cup Grand Prix event at the Etobicoke Olympium.

SNC excerpt

Toronto, ON – Open Water World Champion Greg Streppel of Cambridge was inducted into Swimming Canada’s Circle of Excellence tonight at the Canada Cup in Toronto.

“I feel very honored tonight but this recognition also goes to my coaches who have contributed so much in giving me the tools to become a world champion,” said Streppel. “Ron Jacks was a true pioneer in the Open water event for Canada. His dedication has inspired me beyond the sport of swimming.”

Coach Rod Barratt and ten swimmers crossed Georgia Strait for the LOSC Fall Invitational in Langley, November 15-16. Coach Rod Barratt and ten finalists returned... congratulations to Salin Bol, Sophia Borchers, Michael de Clare, Caileigh Filmer, Lauren McMillan, Rosie Moulton, Rachael Newman, Stefanie Schmidt, Aidan Thirkell and Brenden Ward!

As always, complete details are posted on our results page.

PCS traversed Malahat Mountain on Saturday to compete in the first event at the new Duncan pool - cool! Swimmers, coaches and parents had a great time!

Our team converged on Saanich Commonwealth Place on Wednesday November 12th for an evening of photos (a sea of blue bolt shirts and enthusiastic team members), fun relays (adults particularly loved watching the wobbly boat relay) and recognition for achievements during the 2007-2008 season.

The following swimmers won our high-point trophies - congratulations all!

Several UVPCS groups attended the Island Pacific Cup this weekend. At the close of the meet, our top-3 finalists included Hanna Carter, Ryan Clouston, David Creel, Eleanora Dalling, Emily Ding , Derek Doerksen, MacKenzie Downing, Cody Flegel, Ryan Howe, Danielle Newton, Tracey Nguyen, Jessica Petrusiak, Jeff Saganski, Annika Schmuck, Nicholas Sinclair and David Vizsolyi.

Results from the SFU Invitational are now posted on our results page. Highlights included top-3 finishes from Whitney Buczkowski, David Creel, Derek Doersken, MacKenzie Downing and Jeff Saganski.