Twelve-year-old Hayley Oke has big goals for her swimming career, among them the nationals. And she’s well on her way, developing the skills needed to get there.
The grade seven student at Huntsville Public School student is a member of the Muskoka Aquatic Club (MUSAC) and has been swimming competitively for the past four years.
Her goal for this year is to qualify for provincials, which she also accomplished last year, and she wants to achieve personal best qualifying times to take herself to nationals in the next few years of her swimming career.
Oke won the rookie of the year award for 2017. She won the 2018 Club Junior Merit Award and placed eighth provincially in the 50M Freestyle swim for her age category. This year, Oke placed third in the Provincial Open Water Championships in Brampton, completing the 2km swim in only 32 minutes. Open water swims provide Oke with a different kind of training which improves her distance and endurance skill. She also won the 2019 Club Sportsmanship Award and qualified for the Ontario Festival Championships in both 2018 and 2019.
Above left: Hayley Oke with a 100m free heat win at Ontario Festivals (Image courtesy of Brad Oke)
Above right: Hayley earned a bronze at Open Water Provincials in Brampton (Carolyn Croxall)
Oke really enjoys sprint distances in the pool, and has come to like freestyle and backstroke. She likes and making amazing friends from her team while getting the opportunity to be a team leader as well as a team player.
In the off-season, Oke attends Olympia Sports Camp to keep up her swimming skills and fitness. She also participates in 2km swims in Fairy Lake with her mother and fellow triathlon/TriMukokan members.
As the regular swim season gets underway, Oke will be training in the pool five to six times per week with 1.5-2 hour practices. Dryland training, which includes running and strength training, is part of her weekly regime as well.
The first meets for the 2019-20 season are in November in Barrie and Owen Sound, followed by the Markham Pan Am meet in January 2020 and the regional championships in February. Oke will use these meets to earn qualifying times for the winter Ontario Festival Championships in Windsor in late February.
Oke says she really enjoys the fitness aspect of competitive swimming and she is driven by the challenge of beating her personal best times along with achieving her personal goals. “I love to learn from the more senior swimmers and coaches.”
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Mary Ann Murray says
Pleased to see Hayley is Athlete of the Week. Her hard work and dedication to her sport is amazing. She is a lovely young lady and deserves much success.