Best of the West

When the Western Canadian Championships were cancelled, the swimming community collectively sighed—until the four provinces united to create the inaugural Best of the West Fest to fill the void. The Patriots gladly packed their bags and descended on the Pan Am Pool to make sure the new meet had a proper christening. While parents were busy surviving marathon sessions in the sweltering stands, the swimmers were busy hauling away an impressive collection of hardware and rewriting club history.

The biggest news of the weekend is that another swimmer has officially unlocked the next level of the sport. William Cameron blasted his way to his first-ever Canadian Trials cut in the 100 Fly and 200 IM. Congratulations to William on the massive achievement.

William Cameron didn't just stop at a Trials cut; he apparently decided to own the butterfly events, sweeping three golds across the 50, 100, and 200 Fly. He also set a new #1 all-time club record for 15-year-old boys in the 200 Fly, and picked up a Top 1 Youth Recognition award in the 100 Fly. 14-year-old Noa Josh Burger unleashed an absolute clinic in the distance events, single-handedly blitzing the record boards by entering the all-time top 10 in six different events, including claiming the #1 spot in the 800 Free.

Samuel Bygrave brought home gold in the 400 IM and bumped his own time to take the #1 all-time club record for 17-year-old boys in the 100 Fly. Szilard Szep also decided that his old times weren't quite fast enough, rocketing up the rankings to seize the #1 club record for 16-year-old boys in the 200 Back.

Our relay teams also decided that old records were meant to be broken. Five different squads teamed up to set new #1 all-time club records. The 17-year-old boys grabbed the top spot in both the 4x100 Free and 4x200 Free relays, powered by William Cameron, Samuel Bygrave, Federico Martino, and Levi Hildebrand. The 16-year-old boys snagged #1 in the 4x100 Free (Noa Josh Burger, Spencer Bratton, Hudson Blough, Szilard Szep) and the 4x100 IM (Szilard Szep, Hudson Blough, William Cameron, Levi Hildebrand). Finally, the 14-year-old mixed squad of Noa Josh Burger, Federico Martino, Aria Warwick, and Isla Curtis took the #1 record in the 4x50 IM.

The inaugural Best of the West Fest was designed to be an elite, highly competitive gauntlet, and our swimmers clearly understood the assignment. Thank you to all the parents who bravely funded the expedition. You successfully survived the first-ever Fest, which unfortunately means you are now considered experienced veterans and are officially drafted to do it all over again next year.

Check out the updated top-10 lists, and more, on our [rankings site].