Swimmers in Ottawa
By: Nicholas Lightbody
Exams are finished, the stress of academic assignments and labs and papers are over, and the RMCC Swim Team packed up their gear and headed to Ottawa to compete at the GO Kingfish Long Course Invitational Swim Meet. This was the first long course (50 m pool instead of 25 m) swim competition the swim team has competed at this year, and was also a first for many swimmers on the team. The extra distance per length forces every swimmer to strategize their races differently, and this opportunity gave each of the athletes on the team the chance to test the endurance that they have developed over the season. After a hard few weeks of training, including a total distance of 29.1 km the week prior to the competition swimmers were tired but eager to see what they could do given the circumstances. The RMCC Swim Club is just finishing off the hardest part of their training and will be begin their taper for Master Nationals.
There were a few excellent races swum by the members of the swim team this past weekend including second place finishes by NCdt. Nicholas Lightbody in the 50 fly and 50 free and a first place finish in 100 freestyle. OCdt. Sandy Edmonson also managed to place second in her 50 m backstroke, posting a time of 1:14.15. RMC took the top three finishes in the 50 m breaststroke with OCdt. Nicholas Swanson finishing first, NCdt. Nicholas Lightbody finishing second, and NCdt. Connor Duke finishing third. NCdt Levesque and NCdt Rueben also made best times in several swims.
The swim team is back in the pool for their final three weeks of training for the season in preparation for nationals. The training will only be getting easier as the weeks go on and the training in the pool will payoff at the final and most important swimming competition of the year, Master’s Nationals. The national competition will be held from May 17th-20th in Ottawa.
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Triathletes in Florida
By: Guod Rehcuop
On 27 April 2013 eight members of the RMC Triathlon Club competed in the St. Anthony’s Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Florida. St Anthony’s is a high profile Olympic distance triathlon (1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run) on the International Triathlon Union (ITU) circuit, and was quite a challenging event for the Officer Cadets’ in their first race of the triathlon season.
Lead by Team Captain OCdt (IV) Alida Stockermans, the team consisted of OCdt (IV) Isabelle Allain, OCdt (IV) Stacey Litjens Cusan, OCdt (III) Adam Goddard, OCdt (III) Michelle Begin-Major, OCdt (III) Iain Wilson, Captain (Res) Nick Cosman and staff member LCdr Doug Poucher.
Race day proved to be challenging on all fronts, with 30(+) degree weather, 3 to 4 foot waves whipped up by 30 to 40 knot winds, not to mention the extra layers of security surrounding the event in the aftermath of Boston. Nonetheless, despite these obstacles the race started on time at 0700 with the Professional triathletes in the first swim wave, followed by the Elites, and then 20 more waves of Age Group triathletes from ages 17 to 50(+), including some remarkable 70 and 80 year olds! However, within minutes of the start the Race Director had to shorten the 1500 meter swim to 750 meters as a safety precaution due to the high waves and winds!
As a team in their first major triathlon RMC did very well, especially considering that several of them were beginner triathletes. In the individual Women’s race OCdts Michelle Begin-Major and Alida Stockermans placed 7th and 16th respectively in their age category, while OCdts Iain Wilson and Adam Goddard finished 5th and 17th in their Men’s age group. In the Men’s Elite race Nick Cosman did a very respectable 41st despite problems with a food-induced stomach ailment, and LCdr Doug Poucher placed 7th in “older” Men’s age category.
In the Relay Team event, the RMC Women’s team consisting of OCdts Stacey Cusan and Isabelle Allain placed a remarkable 2nd in the Female Relay with their time of 2:18:57 (12:58 Swim and 1:13.33 Bike done by OCdt Cusan, and a 45:47 run done by OCdt Allain).
Overall the race went exceptionally well with all members having an amazing experience, notwithstanding 4 long days of driving to and from the event. With St Anthony’s now firmly under their belts, this will certainly set the stage for more triathlons to come this summer!