The Ridge Meadows Special Olympics swim team medalled at the annual Ton Greenfield Memorial Swim Meet hosted by the Vancouver team at UBC on Feb. 24.
A total of eight Maple Ridge athletes, four male and four female, participated.
Barbara Keam, new to the team this year, impressed everyone with a third-place finish in the 25m freestyle event, clocked at 45.48 seconds, and a second place finish in the 25m breaststroke event, timed at 52.79 seconds.
Hard-working athlete Matthew Bueschkens posted a personal best in the 25m backstroke with a first place finish clocked at 24.99 seconds. He won another first-place finish by completing his 25m breaststroke in 40.43 seconds, and managed third place by tying his personal best of 49.06 seconds in the 50m freestyle event.
Natasha Brayshaw, who’s been fighting her way back from an ankle injury, amazed everyone with new personal bests in three of her events. She came first in 25m breaststroke, second in 25m backstroke, and second in 50m freestyle with times of 50.47, 46.58 and 1:19.76 seconds respectively.
Jeramy Huskins-Markham, who’s been plagued by injuries this season, impressed in the 50m breaststroke event. His time of 1:13.38 was close to his personal best and earned him a second place ribbon.
Alyssa Vanderklok brought home two first place ribbons. Her 25m freestyle was clocked at 18.54 and her 25m breaststroke was timed at 27.52, a personal best in that event for Alyssa.
Kyle Jarrett took second place in the 25m breaststroke with a time of 34.81 and first place in the 100m freestyle with a time of 1:57.51. Kyle, who’s a natural sprinter, is learning to pace himself during longer races.
Marianne Borenko finished just out of the ribbons in her 25m freestyle and 25m backstroke events, timed at 49.53 and 1:02.19 respectively.
Nathan Baerg posted new personal bests in both events he swam, bringing home a first place ribbon for each. He swam his 25m freestyle in 23.86 and his 25m backstroke in 31.94.
Nathan, Matthew, Jeramy and Kyle also came first in the 100m freestyle relay, which they completed in a time of 1:33.61.
Acting head coach, Michael McNeill accompanied the athletes together with an excellent team of volunteers.