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Young Chemainus swimmer turning heads with her amazing results

Kennadie Sheppard heading to her first International meet in April
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Kennadie Sheppard is multi-talented in most strokes, including the breaststroke.

Kennadie Sheppard goes to great lengths, both inside the pool and out, to improve on her already burgeoning swimming talent.

Sheppard, 10, a Grade 5 Chemainus Elementary School student, has taken the sport by storm in her age group during the short time she’s been in it. And her dedication is surely leading her to future stardom.

After starting out with the Ladysmith Chemainus Orcas Swim Club at the age of eight, Sheppard joined the Ravensong Aquatic Club in Qualicum to receive better coaching in order to reach a higher level. That’s a lot of travelling considering she’s in the pool at Qualicum five days a week and another day in Nanaimo for practices plus meets, but she’s making it work.

It’s all part of the commitment that has produced such great results for Sheppard, now in her second year with Ravensong.

“I wanted my ability to carry me through,” she said.

“Qualicum goes to a lot more swim meets,” added mom Jocelyn Sheppard, as the reason for making the long commute to Qualicum for Kennadie’s development.

She’s coached both in swimming and triathlon by renowned all-around athlete Byron Trajan, who’s assisted by Courtney Poulin.

Getting to this stage has clearly been a rapid rise to the top for Kennadie.

“We found this notice at my school,” she said about what prompted her to initially join swimming with the Orcas. “Why don’t we try this?”

“She couldn’t swim the first 25 metres,” recalled Jocelyn of the early stages. “Within the first two months, she got moved up a level. She was just a natural.”

“I really liked it,” said Kennadie.

Now that she has considerable meet experience under her belt, the sky’s the limit for Sheppard. She won nine individual medals during the recent Island regional swim meet in Duncan - gold in the 50 metre freestyle, 50 back, 50 breast, 100 I.M. and 100 back plus silver in the 100 free, 100 breast, 400 free and 200 I.M.

“Freestyle, it’s like my favourite right now,” Sheppard noted. “I like all strokes really.”

She’s currently ranked as the top 10 and under swimmer in B.C. for the 50 back and 50 breast. For all of Canada, Sheppard is No. 6 in the 50 breast and No. 8 in the 50 back.

She’s now heading to the Provincial Tier 1 Age Group short course meet in Penticton March 8 and then to her first International meet, the Far Westerns Championships involving top Canadian, U.S. and Mexican swimmers, April 4-8 in Santa Clara, California.

“I’m excited,” said Sheppard. “I’m hoping to get in the top 10 of at least one or two (swims in California). Even the slowest people are fast.”

She isn’t fazed by the level of competition. With all the experience Sheppard’s gained, it’s brought increased confidence.

“I like to turn my nervous energy into excited energy,” she said.

The main thing Sheppard’s working on right now is overall technique.

“Byron does a bit of technique every lesson,” pointed out Jocelyn.

“He (Trajan) tells me to relax my arms more, not to have such tense arms,” Kennadie pointed out.

Minuscule improvements are often made in swimming times, but Kennadie recently achieved a huge advancement in her 50 free of 1 1/2 seconds down to 31.92.

Balancing extensive swim time and her schoolwork keeps Kennadie busy. Great support from her teacher has helped immensely.

All continuing to go well, Kennadie’s goal-setting is geared towards the ultimate sporting achievement - the Olympic Games by 2024.

“Right now, I’m really looking at tying or beating some club records,” she said. “Long-term would be Oympics or World type things.”

In the meantime, Kennedie needs to fundraise for her trip to California. Jocelyn said if anyone is willing to donate bottles, she can arrange to pick them up by contacting her at 250-416-5210 or by email at steveandjos@shaw.ca.



Don Bodger

About the Author: Don Bodger

I've been a part of the newspaper industry since 1980 when I began on a part-time basis covering sports for the Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle.
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