A pair of athletes from the Pembina Valley have returned home after competing in the 2024 Manitoba Summer Games in Dauphin.
Staged every two years and alternating between summer and winter sporting events, the Games is the largest ongoing multi-sport event in the province.
13-year-old Rebecca Kagan of Morden swims for the Winkler Barracudas and qualified for Team South.
At the Games, she placed 4th in two races, 5th in another and earned a silver in the 4x500 metre Mixed Medley Relay Youth Mix.
"There were four kids and we each did 50 metres," said Kagan, who explained it started with the backstroke, then breaststroke, followed by butterfly and ending with freestyle. "I was swimming (butter)fly. I feel like it was a good race, and I went pretty fast, so that's good."
"My teammates were really good actually," she added. "They're super-fast and it (was) super fun to compete with them."
Overall, Kagan says it was fun week and she made a lot of new friends.
For 17-year-old Hunter Giesbrecht from Altona, it was also a great week.
Giesbrecht was selected to play for Team South in 16U/17U Male Basketball after try-outs leading up to the games.
His time in Dauphin started with the opening ceremonies on Sunday followed by two games on each Monday and Tuesday, followed by a physical combine on Wednesday.
"I feel like I performed pretty well. I averaged the most points out of my team. I played a lot of team ball, and it was just really fun," explained Giesbrecht.
It was a bit of a different story for the team as a whole, however, as the competition level was quite high.
"We didn't win a game, but it doesn't matter because all of them were close. We lost in overtime the one time, so they weren't blow outs."
With the Games behind him, Giesbrecht is preparing to enter Grade 12 next month and he plans to keep up his performance, with an eye on playing college ball when he graduates.
With files from Robyn Wiebe and Zack Driedger
Submitted video