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Marlins attract 565 swimmers to Guelph in the Dash for Cash

Marlins attempted to break National record
Dash for Cash 2017

Guelph and area residents have plenty to be proud of from the past weekend’s events. Over four days, spanning Thursday, Dec. 7 to Sunday, Dec. 10, the Guelph Marlins Aquatic Club hosted their popular Dash for Cash meet, sponsored by the title sponsor TD Bank. 

The race format was short-course distance, held at the University of Guelph pool, and at times the venue was so full with proud parents, it was standing room only.

The event attracted 13 swim clubs to the Guelph area, not including the Guelph Marlins themselves, whose swimmers reside mostly in Guelph and surrounding Wellington county. Some clubs travelled from as far away as Windsor, Quinte and Thunder Bay and spent the weekend in the Royal City.

Now in its fifteenth year, the meet was quickly sold out and Guelph was a buzz with 565 of the most talented swimmers ranging in ages from 8 to 24 years of age, their coaches and families in Guelph for the 4 day meet.  Many of the events awarded as much as $100 cash to first place swimmers, and $200 for a breast stroke eliminator race; a clear motivator for the youth of today.

During the event, excitement broke out as it became evident that the boys from the 13 & over age group, were in contention to break the National record for 200m Medley Relay. The record is currently held by the Etobicoke Swim Club at a time of 1:51:27. In a bittersweet competitive moment, the boys had spectators on the edge of their seats and narrowly missed the national record by less than 0.3 seconds.

This relay team made up of Russell Burton (Backstroke), Liam Baena (Breast), Thomas McDonald (Fly)  and Colin Campbell (Freestyle), residing in Guelph, Fergus and Elora, will be a team to watch.

Other pride-filled and notable Guelph athletic accomplishments include:

17 and over
Kristen Quigley, age 18 placed 2nd in 100m Back, 3rd place for both 50m and 100m Freestyle.
Ryan Jensen, age 18, claimed top place in 100m Fly, 3rd place in 50m free and 1st place in 200m IM.
Mario Ramirez followed closely behind Ryan, in 100m Fly to secure 2nd place.
William Barrett, age 17, secured 2nd spot for 400m Freestyle, top spot in 50m Free, 3rd place in 50m Breast and 1st place for 100m Freestyle.
Gabby Baird age 17, scored herself 3rd place in 800m Freestyle as well as 3rd in 200m IM.
Dante De Lello placed 2nd place for 800m Freestyle.

15 and over
Sydney Conrad, age 15 placed first in 100m Back,  2nd in 50m freestyle, 3rd spot in both 100m Fly and 800m Freestyle.
Claire Campbell, age 16, secured top spot in 100m Fly, 2nd place for 200m Backstroke and 2nd place for 200m IM.
Abigail McDonald, age 16, secured first spot in 400m Freestyle, 2nd place in 50m Breast,  2nd place for 100m Freestyle and a sweet 1st place finish for 200m Breast stroke.
Jacob Sands, age 16, came 2nd in 400m Free.
Jaxon Konrad, age 16, landed a third place finish for both 200m IM and 200m Breaststroke.
Katie Berwick, age 15, scored herself a 3rd place finish for 100m freestyle.

13 and over
Hanna Schlotzhauer, age 14 placed 3rd place for both 400IM and 800m Freestyle.
Marcus Beckstead Holman, age 14, grabbed hold of 1st place in 400IM, 2nd place in 100m Back.
William Beckstead-Holman, age 14 placed 1st in 200m IM
Gabriella Pollock, age 14 placed 2nd for 100m Back and claimed 3rd place in 200m backstroke , 2nd spot for 50m freestyle and a tidy first place finish for 100m Freestyle.
Russell Burton, age 14, took first place in 100m Back, first place in 50m free ,  1st in 100m Fly and 1st place in 50m Breast.
GMAC also clinched top 3 spots in 100m Fly, with Russell securing top spot, Thomas McDonald in second, and Marcus Beckstead-Holman shoring up 3rd spot.
The 14 year old boys, then repeated this pattern again, claiming the top 3 spots in 50m free, with Russell taking top spot, followed closely in 2nd place by Thomas McDonald and Colin Campbell,  in 3rd place.
Colin also claimed first spot for 400m free, a respectable 2nd place for both 800m Freestyle and 100m freestyle.
Thomas McDonald went on to claim first place for 100m Freestyle.
Tristan Jankovics, age 13 secured second spot In 200m backstroke.
Ali Kudo, age 13, placed 3rd in 50m free , 2nd place for both 100m Fly and 100m Free and went on to place 3rd in 200IM.
Alexander Jensen, age 14, scored a second place finish, for 200m IM and a first place finish for 200m Breaststroke.

12 and under
Matthew Marsella, age 10, placed 3rd for Boys 100M backstroke and 2nd place for 100m Freestyle.
Eliina Ngugyen age 10, placed 1st place for Girls 200M Free, followed closely by Daniela Villagomez, age 10, in second place, who also incidentally took second place in 400M free, second place for 50m Fly and 3rd place 800m Freestyle. Eliina went on to claim second spot for 100m Fly, and climbed to top spot for 50m Fly and 3rd spot for 100m Freestyle.
Daniela also proudly claimed second place in 800m Freestyle for the 12 and under category.
Alice Parsons, age 10 arrived in 3rd place for 50m backstroke, 3rd place for 50m Fly.
Erik Jensen, age 12 placed 3rd place for 200m Freestyle and 3rd place in 50m Breast.
Andrea Luberti, Age 10 cleaned house. She placed 3rd place in 100m Fly, 1st in 200M Fly and, followed by Eliina Nguyen, also age 10 in second place. Andrea also placed 3rd place 100m Backstroke,  3rd in 50m freestyle, 2nd place for 100m Free, 2nd place in 200m backstroke and 2nd in 200m IM., and 1st place for 200m Breastroke.
The talent runs in the family, as Andrea’s sister Fiona, claimed 3rd spot for 50m Breastroke.
Jacob Mark came first place, at age 8, in 400m Freestyle, 3rd place in 200m Backstroke and 2nd place for 50m Backstroke and 2nd place for 200m Breaststroke.
Noah Bradwin, age 10 claimed 3rd spot in 50m Breast stroke and climbed to 2nd for 200m Breast.
Max Bradwin, age 12 grabbed third spot for 200m Breast.
Jenna Walters, age 11, found herself in 3rd spot following a 50m Fly race.
Brody Skeoch, age 11, claimed 2nd spot for 50m Fly.


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