Alex Petriw’s swimming season ended with a splash this weekend. The 13-year-old Glacier Bear made the trip to Kamloops without his teammates to swim in seven finals en route to winning three medals.

Petriw started early, striking gold in the 1,500-metre freestyle event Friday. Petriw swam a textbook race and shaved 43 seconds off his previous best time to post a 20:50.54.

“He attacked during the hardest part of the race,” said coach Malwina Bukszowana. “This move helped him to swim away from the other competitor from B.C. and to win this race.”

But Petriw wasn’t finished Friday. He swam in two more finals, an A-final in the 50-metre freestyle, where he finished eighth and a B-final in the 100-metre backstroke.

On day two of the BC Summer AA championships, Petriw swam in the B-final for 100-freestyle. The budding long-distance swimmer then won his second gold medal in the 400-metre freestyle.

On the final day of the swim meet, Petriw swam in the same heat and lane in both races, eight. But he qualified for A-finals in both events.

First up, the 200-freestyle.

“Alex [swam] very smart, keeping his eye on the other boys and catching up with a great finish,” said Bukszowana.

He won a bronze in the event, taking another four seconds off his best time.

Petriw then swam his final event, the 200-metre backstroke, using the same strategy. He finished fourth, again taking four seconds off his time.

The meet was a good season closer for Petriw, said Bukszowana.

“He made a big improvement in many skills during the entire year,” said Bukszowana. “His hard work payed off.”

Without his Glacier Bears team, Petriw made new B.C. friends and always had a crew cheering him on in finals.

“It is always good to see how swimming changes the young people,” said Bukszowana. “It builds up their confidence and helps to start conversations with other athletes that have something in common with you.”