In stunning news for one of Canada’s true rising swim stars, Evan White’s Canadian National Age Group Records from the Thunderbolt International Short Course Meet in Oregon in December will not be ratified by Swimming Canada.
The meet, formerly known as the Paul Bergen International, attracts junior swimmers from as far away as Germany, and is one of the few opportunities for Americans to race in short course meters on home turf. That also makes the meet more global, as most of the world swims short course in 25 meter pools.
At the meet, White broke 5 National Age Group Records: the 100 fly, the 200 fly, the 200 breast, and as a part of two relay swims.
However, the following email sent out by Director of Domestic Operations Ken Radford says that the records won’t count because the pool’s measurement wasn’t certified by USA Swimming – fact that was pointed out clearly in the meet information. Swimming Canada’s interpretation is that if the pool didn’t meet USA Swimming record certification, it doesn’t meet Swimming Canada record certification either.
Please be informed that Swimming Canada has determined that the results from the December 13 – 15, 2013 Thunderbolt Junior International Short Course Championships will be ratified for the purposes of entries and rankings only. Given the course was not certified in accordance with US Swimming rules and was stated as such in the meet information, no National Records will be recognized from the results of this competition.
The times will, however, still count for rankings and event entries, but Canada, like most major federations, have special stipulations to be placed upon record certifications, including having the pool length professionally surveyed for accuracy.
His individual records in the 15-17 group were:
- 53.33 – 100 SCM fly (record stands at 53.36, Karl Wolk)
- 1:56.69 – 200 SCM fly (record stands at 1:57.66, Adam Sioui)
- 2:10.72 – 200 SCM breaststroke (2:11.22 – Morgan Knabe)
White will train at the University of Michigan beginning in the fall, and still holds 10 Canadian Age Group Records. He turned 18 on January 23rd, and so his run at Canadian NAG Records, which only run through the 15-17 age group, is over.
This is not the first time that this has happened, either. Among all of the National Age Group Records that Michael Andrew has broken, one in the 50 yard free several years ago as an 11-12 was not ratified as the meet, in Minnesota, didn’t obtain proper sanctions from USA Swimming.
Yes there have been many canadian records set at the event
Does anyone know if any existing Canadian records were set at Bergen? i.e. Is there a precedent for this? I’m pretty sure there have been numerous provincial records set across multiple provinces. I understand SNC has its separate polices/procedures to the provinces but this seems like such a technicality – the meet has been held at the same pool for year, its not getting any shorter..