For the third year in a row, Shona Branton has won an OFSAA medal.
Branton, a member of the Wallaceburg Tartan Swim Team, captured a bronze medal in Grade 10, a gold medal last year and now she has a completed her collection with a silver medal in Grade 12.
Branton clocked a personal best time in the morning prelims on Wednesday with a time of 1:11.30 in the open girls 100 metre breast stroke. The swim earned her a trip to the afternoon finals to swim for a medal.
She improved her best time in the afternoon with a time of 1:10.16 to clinch second place, just behind a new OFSAA record holder.
Branton continued to impress during the meet with another personal best time of 1:09.34 in the open girls 100 metre individual medley.
This placed her in eight position and earned her a spot in the afternoon final.
Branton took even more time off in the afternoon, clocking 1:08.55 to move
up to a fifth place ranking.
“Her time was just one second shy of another medal,” Nancy Schinkelshoek, the Tartan Swim Team’s head coach, said in a press release.
Reed Mathieson was the only Tartan boy to make an individual swim at OFSAA.
“He did not disappoint,” Schinkelshoek said.
Mathieson had a solid swim in the junior boys 50 metre back stroke, finishing in 20th place.
“This was just half a second from an afternoon final,” Schinkelshoek said.
The junior boys medley relay team, made up of Mathieson in back stroke, Cameron Hazzard in breast stroke, Ryan Burritt in fly and Jacob Wood in free, had an outstanding OFSAA Championships as well.
“The kings of the clock recorded a standout seven second personal best time in the morning prelims to move from 22 spot all the way to 11th,” Schinkelshoek said.
“In a final with 5 (disqualifications), the boys had a clean swim to move them up to the 7th fastest time in the province.”
Schinkelshoek added that the coaches an the staff at WDSS are “very proud of these swimmers.”
A total of 2007 swimmers attended the 2020 OFSAA Championships in Scarborough at the Pan Am Pool.
This included 312 schools, 1,555 individual swims and 407 relay races.
