This year's season has gone swimmingly for the Earl Marriott Secondary aquatics team.

The student-coached team performed well at both regional championships, hosted by the South Fraser Athletic Association, as well as provincials in Richmond earlier this month, bringing home a banner as well as some heavy medal, including gold and bronze.

At regionals, 28 schools and 546 swimmers competed, with EMS' 33-member squad coming in fourth overall, noted Tanja Phillips, one of team's co-ordinators, along with Leanna Scott.

Grade 11 swimmer Kelly Qi placed first in all four of her events, while Natalia Phillips (Grade 11) placing first and second in her two individual events, she said, with their cumulative points winning them the SFAA Senior Girls banner.

"The cumulative points of these same two swimmers also won the Junior Girls banner last year. Kelly Qi won the Most Points Female Plaque in 2023 and 2024," Phillips said in an email.

At regionals, the team qualified eight relay teams to Provincials as well as five individual swimmers (Qi, Phillips, Riley Springate, Matthew Lopes and Henry Lee). 

Provincials, held in Richmond at Watermania Nov. 15-16, saw EMS send 19 athletes. Seven of nine of the EMS relay teams qualified in the top 16, Springate, Phillips and Lee qualified in the top 12, and Qi won a gold medal in the 200m IM (individual medley) event and a bronze in the 100m Butterfly event.

EMS came in ninth overall out of 137 schools at the BCSS Provincials.

Phillips added Olympic record-holder Sebastian Massabie, a Para swimmer who competed in Paris this summer, also won all golds at SFAA regionals and BC School Sports provincials in 2022, when he was an EMS swimmer.