The future of the Sudbury Fitness Challenge is in good hands.
An injection of youth in the annual Island Swim certainly bodes well as Bennett Sibley and Charlie Gatien were among a solid group of under-12 athletes who joined a larger teenage contingent and the traditional stalwarts at Moonlight Beach Sunday morning.
A competitive swimmer with the Orillia Channel Cats, Sibley made the family trek north, taking a break from the social aspect of the visit to tackle his first ever open water race. “There were two things I noticed,” suggested the 12 year-old who limited his first foray in this type of initiative to the 100-metre distance.
“One, there are waves out there. Also, if you are swimming in a pool, you have to turn around several times. Out here, there are no turns at all.”
Even the start and finish of the race differ from what he would have been used to in a standard Swim Ontario sanctioned meet. “We normally start off the blocks at a pool and you finish by hitting the wall,” said the multi-sport athlete who also keeps busy with soccer and kayaking, in the summer, and nordic ski in the winter.
“Out here, you’re just standing at the start.”
Charlie Gatien was not about to stand around too long. After all, the grade 5 student at Ecole catholique St Denis had a full kilometre loop to complete. And complete it she would, in style, the 10 year old placing ninth in a field of 28 swimmers (at that distance) with a time of 22:32.
Gatien was also one of three under-12 kids who took on the 1km challenge (Noah Snider – 4th and Aaron Laakso – 25th were the other two) as Dax Hester (13-15 male category) finished first (14:03), with Mike Commito and Brooke Herranen in hot pursuit.
A member of the Sudbury Laurentian Swim Club for the past three or four years, Gatien prepared for this event by emulating the setting in training sessions this summer at her camp on Lake Panache. “It’s pretty wavy on Lake Panache – and definitely there are no flip turns at all,” she said with a smile, her DQ Dilly Bar now consumed.
Understandably, because of the distance, Gatien opted to go with a three-stroke approach, incorporating the freestyle (most common), backstroke (one of her favourites) and the breaststroke, the latter of which served a couple of purposes.
“The breaststroke helps me catch my breath and see where I am going,” noted Gatien. “When I did my backstroke, I went completely sideways.”
And what of the butterfly?
“I like my butterfly, but for one kilometre, that would be a little bit hard.”
Joining Bennett Sibley in the 100m race were Kloe and Ariel Beaulieu, Lola Gatien, Walter Soszka, Olivia Luoma and Lyra Mathew. The top of the field for the 3km distance (12 competitors) featured Noah McGregor (13-15 – 42:56), Julian Luoma (13-15 – 48:25), Tamara Flannigan (40-49 – 54:55) and Ginny Denomme (40-49 – 59:59).
Remaining 1km competitors: Amanda Snider; Romana Benoit; Scott Hopkins; Emily Stranger; Alex Hann; Bruno Michel; Sophia Mathew; Chantal Laakso; Maija Nener; Jordyn Maguhn; Jeffrey Paul; Neil Phipps; Kevin Chan; Sylvia Donato; Robert Masih; Amanda Hey; Yvonne Marrello; Brayden Cowan; Cara Kirkpatrick; Aaron Laakso; Linda Conroy; Linda Tenhunen; Surraby Bala.
Remaining 3km competitors: Sara McIlraith; Jeff Perchuk; Clinton Lahnalampi; Tina Woollings; Michelle Gravelle; Chris Cooper; Kylee Fowler; Tara Forget
A good number of these folks will be right back at it on the shores of Moonlight Beach on (Sunday) August 10th as the 2025 Beaton Classic brings together a good portion of Sudbury's most ardent fitness buffs.
