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With boost from Ormann, Rapids celebrate recent success

Olds Rapids Swim Club member Mitchell Ormann had a phenomenal run at the Freeze or Fry annual swimming event in Red Deer from June 6 to 8, capturing gold in five categories and breaking three club records.

Olds Rapids Swim Club member Mitchell Ormann had a phenomenal run at the Freeze or Fry annual swimming event in Red Deer from June 6 to 8, capturing gold in five categories and breaking three club records.Ormann, 17, was a gold medalist in the 200- and 50-metre freestyle contests and the 50-, 100- and 200-metre butterfly stroke contests at the event.He also captured a silver medal alongside club members Dawson Green and Cole Urbanowski and coach Graeme Gordon in the four-by-50-metre medley relay where he swam the butterfly stroke, as well as a bronze medal in the 100-metre freestyle contest.Ormann broke his own all-time club records in the 200-metre freestyle competition with a time of 2:21.43 and the 200-metre butterfly competition with a time of 2:45.18.Gordon, 35, who has helmed the club for six years, was the Rapids' only other gold medalist at the event with a first-place finish in the 200-metre backstroke competition.He also captured silver medals in the 50-metre butterfly contest and as part of the four-by-50-metre medley relay team, as well as a bronze in the 50-metre backstroke.The other bronze medalists at the event were Urbanowski, 15, in the 50-metre freestyle competition and Green, 15, in the 50-metre butterfly.Overall, the Rapids finished in seventh place at the event.Other club records broken included the 100-metre breaststroke record that Victoria Wagstaff bested with a time of 1:37.44.She also set new records in the 100-metre breaststroke with a time of 1:37.44 and 200-metre breaststroke with a time of 3:35.28.The men's medley relay team set a new club record with a time of 2:18.46, Gordon set a new club record in the 200-metre backstroke with a time of 2:38.94, ranking him second in Canada in the 35- to 39-year-old masters category, Gizelle de Guzman set a new record in the 1,500-metre freestyle contest for 15 and 16-year- olds with a time of 27:57.12 and Thompson, 12, set a new record in the 200-metre freestyle category with a time of 2:46.32.Alberta Summer Games trials were also held the same weekend in Canmore and Wesley Wilks, who trains with the Rapids and Special Olympics Airdrie, was selected for the Zone 2 team.Stephen McMurter, 13, placed second overall at the trials in Zone 2 and will also represent Special Olympics Alberta in Zone 2 at the Alberta Summer Games this year.Misty Olson, 21, who swims for the Olds Special Olympics team, was selected at the trials to represent Zone 2 and teammate Aaron Lewis, 21, will fill an empty spot in another zone to be determined at a later date after placing fifth at the Canmore trials.Thompson has qualified for the short course and long course Alberta age group trials for the Alberta Summer Games in 2015.Two weeks earlier, the Rapids participated in the Silver Tide Silver Cup event in Edmonton on May 24 and 25 and again Ormann performed solidly for the team.He landed second-place finishes in the 50-metre freestyle competition with a time of 27.48, beating a club record in the 17-over age range that was set by Gordon one minute earlier, the 50-metre backstroke and the 100-metre backstroke, where he also bested a club record.Ormann's other runner-up finishes were in the 50- and 100-metre butterfly categories.Overall, the club had five second-place finishes, two third-place finishes, one new provincial A standard and six new provincial standards and 11 club records were set.As for what's next for the club, Gordon, Ormann and Wagstaff have qualified for the Alberta Senior Championships in Edmonton that take place from July 3 to 6.So far, the Rapids have broken 64 club records this [email protected]


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