North Star swimmers qualify for OFSAA

The North Star High School swim team is small but its members are proving to be mighty.

The team is comprised of four Grade 10 girls – Hannah Wilcox, Maiyah Hodges, Brooke MacDonald and Eden Pare – and all four have qualified for the OFSAA swim meet March 5-6 in Toronto. They did so by performing well at last week’s SWOSSAA swim meet in Windsor.

Wilcox qualified for the 50-metre freestyle event due to her strong performance at SWOSSAA and will join Hodges, MacDonald and Pare in the 200-metre freestyle relay.

MacDonald said it feels “really good” to represent their school and the provincial swim meet.

Wilcox recalled the team being told last year they likely wouldn’t make it to OFSAA and that fueled them to want to prove the doubters wrong.

“We’re a very small team compared to everyone else,” said Wilcox.

The girls train at the Windsor International Aquatic and Training Centre and do so twice per week. They have to find their own transportation to downtown Windsor and all of their seven swim meets so far have been there.

Pare said they joked at the start of the year about going to OFSAA but Wilcox added they started thinking more seriously about it when they had success at WECSSAA. The goal is to crack the top ten in the standings at OFSAA.

The girls swam in the junior category this year with Wilcox adding they move up to senior next season. She added she had a personal best in the 50-metre freestyle, swimming a time of 32:96 seconds, which is comparable to what many senior students can swim.

“I’m pretty happy about that,” she said.

Pare is in her first year swimming, while Wilcox has been swimming for three years. MacDonald said she has been swimming since she was in Grade 3 while Hodges has been swimming competitively for two years. They agreed they have made friends not only with each other, but with other swimmers from different schools as well.

“You’re trying to beat your own time, not everyone else,” said MacDonald.

“It really shows how every second counts,” added Pare.

The four swimmers look forward to even more success in future years.

“We are all supportive of each other, which I like,” said Wilcox. “I think it’s good.”

North Star swimmers qualify for OFSAA

By Ron Giofu