The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Swimming didn't come naturally for Emma Peterson. It was a bit of a rough start, she joked. Now a member of the Flin Flon Aqua Jets, she spent her younger years in Brandon and Winnipeg, where she took swimming lessons. Failing the first level four times, Peterson joked that it wasn't until her grandfather threw her in a pool that she learned to put her face in the water. But over the past two and a half years, Peterson has been swimming with the Aqua Jets and has gotten over her fear of her head being under water. After earning a 'AA' qualifying time at a swim meet in Saskatoon earlier this year, Peterson swam in the ManSask Long Course Championship in the same city in July. To participate in the ManSask, a swimmer must qualify in at least one race with a 'AA' time. Peterson earned a number of 'AA' times this year while competing with her 50-metre Free, 200-metre Free, 100-metre Back and 50-metre Back. As well, a swimmer must qualify with a 'A' time in a distance swim. Peterson earned her 'A' time from her 400-metre swim. As well, swimmers are required to qualify with an 'A' time in an IM (Individual Medley), which consists of fly, back, breast and free swim. Getting to the ManSask competition was no easy task. Peterson, for the second year in a row, was the lone swimmer from Flin Flon to make the cut. This year, Peterson, who swam in the 12-year-old age group, said one of the best parts of the meet was the size of the pool. "They have a huge pool," she said. Yet looking back to last year, it was the size of the pool that intimidated Peterson. But now a year older, Peterson was able to not only get over the size of the pool, she was also able to meet new friends at the meet Ð which she said made the competition that much more fun. Peterson was able to meet up with former Aqua Jet Garrison Aune, who was competing through the Saskatoon swim club. "It was fun," she said. Throughout the ManSask competition, Peterson swam in the maximum seven races. She swam the 200-metre IM, 100-metre Fly and the 100-metre Free as well as her four 'AA' qualifying events. Peterson earned a qualifying 'A' time in the first three events listed earlier this season. When it came down to it, Peterson walked away with a bronze medal for her efforts in her last race, the 50-metre Back. Her time of 37.85 left Peterson with a third-place finish. "It's not my best time, but for a final, it's really awesome for me," said the Aqua Jet. Thinking back to the competition, Peterson said it was a lot tougher than a typical swim meet. "It's really hard. Warm-ups are pretty violent," she said as she went on to explain how one swimmer was removed from the pool after pushing another swimmer's head under the water. But all in all, Peterson says the competition was a good experience. The following are a list of Emma's races, times and placements: 50-metre Back Peterson placed fourth in the prelims. She finished third in the finals in the evening with a time of 37.85 seconds. For a final, this was a personal best for Peterson. 100-metre Fly Peterson placed fifth in the prelims and then finished seventh in the finals with a time of 1:30.32. During the prelims, Peterson swam 1:26.23, which gave her another 'AA' time. 100-metre Back Peterson placed eighth in the prelims and then finished ninth in the finals with a time of 1:24.40. 50-metre Free: 34.23, 20th place 100m Free: 1:16.33, 17th place 200m Free: 2:46.75, 17th place 200m IM: 3:11.64, 15th place
