Olds’ Special Olympics swim squad scored five first-place finishes at its first-ever swim meet in Didsbury on Feb. 22 hosted by the Airdrie Special Olympics swim club.
Misty Olsen finished in the top spot in the 50-metre backstroke category, the 25-metre backstroke category and the 25-metre freestyle category with times of 52.74 seconds, 23.19 seconds and 20.54 seconds respectively.
She also finished second in the 50-metre freestyle category with a time of 43.99 seconds.
Nicole Parlardy finished in first place in the 50-metre freestyle category with a time of 43.75 seconds and the 100-metre backstroke event with a time of two minutes and 4.95 seconds.
She finished second in the 100-metre breaststroke with a time of two minutes and 20.31 seconds and the 100-metre individual medley with a time of one minute and 59.01 seconds.
The standings for the team’s other swimmers in women’s events included 12th-place finishes in the 50-metre backstroke, 25-metre backstroke and 25-metre freestyle competitions for Karen McIntyre, who also finished 14th in the 50-metre freestyle category.
Tammy Beale finished 11th in the 25-metre backstroke, 14th in the 25-metre freestyle and 50-metre backstroke events and 17th in the 50-metre freestyle category.
Kelly Titus finished sixth in the 25-metre backstroke event, 10th in the 25-metre freestyle event, 11th in the 50-metre backstroke and 15th in the 50-metre freestyle.
On the men’s side, Tyler Slack finished fifth in the 25-metre freestyle event, 14th in the 25-metre backstroke and 50-metre backstroke events and 17th in the 50-metre freestyle category.
Aaron Lewis finished 14th in the 25-metre and 50-metre freestyle events, 16th in the 25-metre backstroke competition and 18th in the 50-metre backstroke category.
The team, which is now in its second year, has roughly a dozen members and is coached by Helen Windeler.
She said Olsen and Lewis will take part in trials to compete at the Alberta Summer Games.
peverest@olds.greatwest.ca