COBRA Swim Club Recognizes Excellence at the 2023 Athletic Awards Banquet

Brampton’s COBRA Swim Club celebrated the amazing achievements of the Club’s Athletes on October 15, 2023.   

Athletes, Parents, Coaches and special guests gathered together at the Millennium Gardens Banquet Hall to celebrate the 2022-2023 swim season achievements. 

Special guests in attendance included:

• 1992 and 1996 Olympian and Olympic Bronze medalist Stephen Clarke
• COBRA alumni and Masters Athlete Creighton Thicke-Rattray (Guest Speaker)
• Naomi and Brian Bacon (presenters for the Greg Bacon Memorial Award)
• Representatives from the City of Brampton and Making Waves Swim School 

Operations Manager and MC for the event, Kim Inglis-Clarke, motivated everyone in the room with her sparkling personality and contagious energy.  Hard work and dedication to the sport of swimming was recognized through numerous awards.

John Fenton award - Presented to Francesca Belle for her incredible volunteer work at COBRA

Stephen Clarke Performance Award - Presented to Jacob Stojanovic, Abbey Clarke and Simrit Grewal, the male and female Athletes achieving the highest score according to the world long course (LC) performance charts

10 Year Tenure Award - Presented to Abbey Clarke and  Colleen Arthur

Most Improved Awards - Presented to the below Athletes:

• Senior A – Scarlytt Vande Vooren and Evan Tang
• Senior B – Neira Ligata and Matthew Guano
• Age Group A – Olivia Chua and Gabreil Ardeleanu
• Age Group B – Hana Ligata and Jackson Sagar
• Novice A – Davin Hinds and Victoria Trani
• Novice B – Amiya Grace Sebastian and Wolfe Bernal

The Most Dedicated Awards  - Presented to the below Athletes:

• Senior A – Amelia Peron and Jaiveer Singh
• Senior B – Priyanka Betrabet and Lynden Thomas
• Age Group A – Ziva Alexander and Fred Cai
• Age Group B – Kayleigh Bagaoisan and Aaron Wu
• Novice A – Ethan Hirlehey and Raicheal Montemayor
• Novice B – Liza Prokopchuk and Mason Ouellette

Spirit Award - Presented to Gabriel Ardeleanu for capturing the true spirit of COBRA Swim Club with his enthusiasm for team loyalty, pride,supporting others and selecting COBRA vs a swim club closer to home!

There were many Championship Qualifiers for the 2022-2023 season.  The highest achievers were:

• World Masters Aquatic Championships: Crieghton Thicke-Rattray
• Canadian Swimming Trials: Jacob Stojanovic and Zachary El-Sayed
• Canadian Senior National Championships: Cale Spurrell and Jacob Stojanovic
• Canadian Junior Championships: Cale Spurrell, Jacob Stojanovic, Jaiveer Singh, Jayden Vande Vooren and Marcus Selva
• Eastern Canadian Championships: Abbey Clarke, Cale Spurrell, Charlie Keenes, Evan Tang, Jacob Stojanovic, Jaiveer Singh, Jayden Vande Vooren, Marcus Selva and Nathan Vigneault

Top Age Group (TAG) 25 Athletes are those,  who at the end of the 2022-2023 season,  recorded a time which is recognized to be in the TOP 25 in Canada.  

Recipients are as follows:  Ziva Alexander, Olivia Chua, Luca Cutruzzola, Mahdi El-Sayed, Hudson Hay, Charlie Keenes, Carlea Rice, Evren Riosa, Marcus Selva, Jaiveer Singh, Cale Spurrell, Jacob Stojanovic, Evan Tang, Jayden Vande Vooren and Nathan Vigneault

COBRA Club Record Setters 2022-2023:

• Senior Girls 4 x 200 Freestyle Relay Team SC (Abbey Clarke, Simrit Grewal, Colleen Arthur & Madison Do) 9:05.95 April 1, 2023
• Senior Boys 4 x 50 Freestyle Relay Team SC (Jaiveer Singh, Jayden Vande Vooren, Ben Mejia Batres and Marcus Selva) 1:35.88 April 1, 2023
• Senior Boys 4 x 50 Freestyle Relay Team SC (Jayden Vande Vooren, Marcus Selva, Cale Spurrell and Jacob Stojanovic) 1:35.03 October 30, 2022
• Senior Boy 4 x 50 Freestyle Relay Team LC (Jayden Vande Vooren, Jacob Stojanovic, Marcus Selva and Cale Spurrell) 1:36.34 March 2, 2023 then again 1:34.61 July 8, 2023

Greg Bacon Memorial Award - Presented to Evan Tang who was selected as the COBRA Athlete who is the most spirited, humorous, courageous, gregarious, dedicated, determined and stoic.   Naomi Bacon (Greg Bacon’s mother), spoke prior to the presentation of the award and expressed her gratitude to the COBRA Swim Club for their support given to the family over the past 25 years.

Guest Speaker, Creighton Thicke-Rattray, conveyed the message on how “being a competitive swimmer with COBRA Swim Club helped me to become who I am today”.  Creighton reflected upon his time as a competitive Athlete as a child, in his youth and now as part of the Masters program.  Creighton expanded on what being part of the COBRA family means as in his time of need, his COBRA family was there to motivate, support and push him to excel past his boundaries.  

Special Achievement Awards - Were presented to Zachary El-Sayed for his selection for the 2023 Ontario Para-swimming Debrief Camp and 2023 Ontario Provincial Para-swimming Camp, as well as, Creighton Thicke Rattray for his incredible achievements in the 2023 World Masters Aquatic Championships in Japan. 

Congratulations to all of COBRA swim club’s award recipients!