Young swimmers swim nearly 2 km at weekend pentathlon

Nearly 400 swimmers took part in this weekend’s Barrie Trojan Pentathlon, which saw each young athlete swim almost two thousand metres over a three-day span.

Nearly 400 swimmers from the Barrie and Toronto areas took part in this weekend’s Barrie Trojan Pentathlon, which saw each young athlete swim almost two thousand metres over a three-day span.

The annual meet welcomed six clubs, with swimmers between the ages of 8 and 18 across various levels.

“The kids have to swim five different events, some of the longest distances,” said Mark Oatway from the Barrie Trojans Board of Directors.

The timed events included the 200-metre fly, 400-metre individual medley, 200-metre backstroke, 200-metre breaststroke and 800-metre freestyle.

“This swim meet has a real diverse [group] of swimmers. We’ve got swimmers who are in their tiny Trojans or house league... For a lot of them, this is their first opportunity to actually race and get a time,” added Oatway. “At the opposite end of the spectrum, we’ve got our oldest swimmers in their high school years. They’re competitive, so they’re here competing against their friends trying to get best times.”

14-year-old Barrie Trojan Robert Palermo finished second place in the Ironman for his age group.

“It makes me feel really good,” said Palermo. “Especially seeing how some of these people are much faster than me and much taller. It’s scary sometimes but honestly in the future I’m hoping I can become professional, maybe Olympics, so I’m aiming for that!”