Calgary Patriots Swim Club

March 21, 2006
Hi Folks,
      We just finished the final night of swimming at the Melbourne Aquatic
Centre and finished the best night of swimming for the Canadian Team. Brent
Hayden got the ball rolling for the team with a Silver medal and new
Canadian Record in the 50 free (22.19). Mike Brown kept things going with a
very close and exciting race in the 200 breast and out touched 2 Aussies by
.03 for the Gold medal (the team’s first of the competition). The final
individual race for the team was Andrew Hurd in the 1500 free and Andrew
kept us guessing about his strategy for the majority of the race until the
late going as he powered his way home to a Silver medal and a new Canadian
Record (15:09.44, he went the last 500 metres in 5:00.5).
     The highlight of the night was watching the girls 4x100 Medley Relay
(Kelly, Lauren, Audrey and Erica) battle it out for 400 metres and come away
with a Bronze medal. The girls were up against some tough competition and
went into the race ranked 5th but pulled together and made it to the podium.
Erica anchored the relay and split the second fastest 100 free in the race
(54.89) behind the Aussie girl. The team was behind for 385 metres but
Erica split a 28.3 on her way back and passed the Kiwis for the medal. The
crowd was going crazy as the Aussie girls shattered the World Record by over
a second and the Canadian contingent were in an equal frenzy as Erica made
up over 6 tenths of a second on the final 50 metres.
      After 6 days of heats and finals with plenty of ups and downs I am
finally spent and I'm looking very much forward to being home with Pam and
Keltie. I hope all of you have been taking care of my girls in my absence
and I thank you for any help you provided.   I also like to thank everyone
from the team for the encouragement and support both Erica and I have felt
since we were selected to the Commonwealth Games Team. On numerous
occasions before Erica was to race and test herself against the best
swimmers in the world I mentioned to her that all of you were pulling for
her. That support can be felt at this distance and was appreciated.
      Well, it’s midnight again and I’m out of gas. I’m sure I’ll be
chatting with many of you over the next couple of weeks when we return from
our break. Enjoy the next 10 days off and be prepared to return to the pool
with a mission. See you soon.

Coach Jamie

March 20, 2006
Hi Again Folks,
     It’s midnight again and I just back from a fantastic night of racing
for the Canadian Team. The highlight of the evening was the girls 4x100
free relay racing head to head with the Aussies and the Brits and placing
3rd. The Canadian quartet (Erica, Victoria, Genevieve and Sophie) broke the
Canadian Record set by the 2000 Olympic team and were just .15 out of the
Silver medal position. Erica was first on the relay and went a very
respectable 55.6 (the fastest ever leadoff for a Canadian team). This was
her second event of the evening as she had raced to a 7th place finish in
the 50 free earlier in the program.
    I talked to Wes and Lana tonight after the session and they were
ecstatic with the result and with the way Erica has conducted herself all
week. I have more pictures to send from tonight and from previous nights
but I’ll have to get to that tomorrow after some rest. Tomorrow is the last
day of the meet and I’ll be back in Calgary on Friday.
    I will send another update tomorrow night after the last session. The
final two events tomorrow night are the 4x100 medley relays for both boys
and girls and these events are usually the highlight of any International
competition. Both the boy and girls teams are up against some stiff
competition so it should be another fun evening at the pool. Erica will
anchor the girls team and they will be looking for another Canadian Record
and some more hardware.

Coach Jamie

March 18, 2006

Hi Folks,
    It is almost midnight on Saturday night here in Melbourne and I just
returned from a good night and a tough night at the pool. Expectations were
high as we headed to the pool tonight as the Canadian team had 14 entries in
11 races and 2 relays that looked strong. Erica swam against the 3 fastest
women in the world in the final of the 100 freestyle, broke her Canadian
Record and finished fourth. She when out fast (26.5) with the Aussies and
held on for a time of 55.40. Not too bad to have one of our swimmers place
fourth in an individual event at the Commonwealth Games.
    The atmosphere is electric every night at the pool as 12,000 fans cheer
for every good swim and all the tight races. The 4x200 free relay for the
girls turned out to be one of those tight races and the place went crazy.
The Aussie girls were the class of the field and led start to finish. Our
girls came from behind the whole 800 metres and were just touched out by .04
for the bronze medal by the Kiwi's. The girls (Sophie, Erica, Maya and
Brittany) did shatter the Canadian Record with their effort but I think they
would have been much happier with the medal. The boys had a similar fate and
finished 4th. All-in-all a very emotional evening at the Melbourne Aquatic
Centre.
    I will try to send an update every couple of days until the meet
finishes. I hope all is well in Calgary and everyone is ready for a little
break in the swim schedule. Bye from Melbourne!

Coach Jamie

March 16, 2006
Check out this link to all the results and goings-on down-under. Click here.