A swimmer from the qathet region won nine medals at the recent 55+ BC Games in Abbotsford.
Jessica Colasanto entered six individual events, earning gold in the 25-metre butterfly, and was part of three relays.
Colasanto’s first glimpse into the Seniors Games was years ago when she and her husband were homeschooling their three children. They spent many mornings at the local pool, where a foursome of seniors—Dora Ganton, Marjorie Henry and Leila Fahlman, led by Nancy Lalonde—would often cross their path.
“We’d all sit in the hot tub together after doing laps; they were fun, friendly, and always laughing at something,” said Colasanto. “I admired them, and I loved seeing them bring home medals every year. I knew I wanted to follow in their footsteps and join the games as soon as I was eligible.”
Fast forward to last August, when Colasanto turned 54 and spent her two-week vacation building up a routine of daily swims to carry her through to this year.
“I always swim on my birthday in August, and always fall in love with it all over again, but then a week later, they always close the pool for maintenance,” she said. “It’s a long three weeks, and most years life takes over and I just don’t make it back. I wanted a routine that I could really commit to, knowing I’d have to stick with it if I was serious about joining the games.”
When the Powell River Recreation Complex pool reopened last September, she was ready to go. But the universe had other plans, and instead of going for a swim at the complex, circumstances sent her to the emergency room, where they eventually determined she had a benign tumour in her left atrium, a rare condition called myxoma.
Colasanto had open heart surgery in October to have it removed. She was able to return to the pool in January, and she contacted the Zone 2 representative right away to let them know she wanted to join.
Zone 2, encompassing North Island and qathet Regional District, was represented by 282 participants at this 55+ BC Games, but only included six swimmers. Despite being small in number, the Zone 2 team took third overall in swimming, winning a total of nine gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze medals.
In addition to her butterfly event, Colasanto won gold as part of two winning relays, silver in the 50-metre and 200-metre freestyle, and bronze in the 25-metre, 100-metre and 400-metre freestyle and a mixed relay.
Also representing qathet at the games were Serge Dubé, winning gold in 30’ horseshoes; Anthony Leach and Scott Fisher, who won bronze in 11-A-Side soccer with the united team; and Rhian Opel, who joined Zone 4’s 7-A-Side soccer team as a cross-zone player.
Join the Peak's email list for the top headline right in your inbox Monday to Friday: prpeak.com/account/mailinglist.
