The third night of competition at the 2014 Canadian Championships in Saskatoon could not have opened with a more exciting event.
The battle for the women’s 400 freestyle title between 200 freestyle champion Danica Ludlow of Island Swimming and 2012 Olympian Savannah King of the UBC Dolphins. The two women turned at the 200 meter mark tied, both hitting the wall in a time of 2:07.35. At the 300 meter mark King gained a slight lead of 39 one-hundredths of a second and with 50 meters to go Ludlow turned with a lead of two one-hundredths of a second.
Ludlow was able to hold off King hitting the wall in a time of 4:16.01 followed by King who touched in a time of 4:16.02.
Ludlow was not far off her lifetime best of 4:15.70 which she posted in May. King was well off her lifetime best of 4:07.02 which she recorded in 2012.
The men’s 400 freestyle was not quite as exciting as Jeremy Bagshaw took his third event of the weekend winning in a time of 3:51.55. Bagshaw had already collected gold in both the 100 and 200 freestyle events over the past two days. He was just off of his lifetime best of 3:51.09 which he recorded last summer.
Bagshaw’s teammate Keegan Zanatta finished second in a time of 3:53.41. Kier Maitland of the Edmonton Keyano Swim Club finished third in a time of 3:55.48.
It was not surprising to see UBC Dolphins Noemie Thomas dominate the field in the women’s 100 butterfly, winning the event by over two seconds. Thomas took the event in a time of 58.19 which moves her into the 12th position in the world rankings. Thomas missed the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championship teams after swimming poorly at the Canadian Trials where she posted a time of 59.20 finishing third in the event.
She has rebounded well in Saskatoon winning the 50 butterfly in a lifetime best and picking up the gold in the 100 butterfly missing her lifetime best by 23 one-hundredths of a second.
Jacomie Strydom of the Olympians Swim Club took second in a time of 1:00.49 followed by Monica Babits of MSSAC who took the bronze in a time of 1:01.42.
Matthew Dans of GO won the men’s 100 butterfly in a time of 54.59. He was followed by Island Swimming’s Alec Page who finished in a time of 54.84 and Nicolaas Dekker of the Richmond Rapids who took the bronze in a time of 55.15.
Dominique Bouchard of Oakville was not able to sweep the backstroke events in Saskatoon, taking the silver in the 50 yesterday evening, but two out of three isn’t bad. Bouchard won the women’s 100 backstroke on the first night of competition and took gold in the 200 this evening. Bouchard finished in a time of 2:10.16, 46 one-hundredths of a second off her lifetime best of 2:09.70. Her season’s best had been a 2:10.18 which she recorded at the Canadian Trials where she missed a national team selection by seven one-hundredths of a second.
Meryn McCann of ESwim collected the silver finishing in a time of 2:12.24 followed by Bouchard’s teammate Annie Harrison who finished third in a time of 2:13.60.
In the men’s 200 backstroke Matthew Myers of the Toronto Swim Club won the event in a very lacklustre 2:03.96. Chad Bobrosky of the Cascade Swim Club finished second in a time of 2:05.20 followed by Peter Brothers of Island Swimming who collected the bronze in a time of 2:05.34.
Rachel Nicol of the Lethbridge Amateur Swim Club finished second to Fiona Doyle of the University of Calgary Swim Club last night in the 100 breaststroke missing the gold by seven one-hundredths of a second. Tonight nothing was going to keep Nicol from standing on top of the podium as she took the 50 breaststroke in a time of 31.16 ahead of Doyle who finished second in a time of 31.49.
Nicol’s time places her 11th in the world rankings.
Rebecca Terejko of WRMS who collected the bronze in a time of 31.67.
The men’s 50 breaststroke was an intense race between Sergey Holson of the UBC Dolphins and Konrad Bald of GHAC. Holson took the event in a time of 28.50 followed by Bald who hit the wall in a time of 28.51.
Jason Block of the University of Calgary Swim Club finished third in a time of 28.71.
In the midst in a battle for the top ranking in team points the Edmonton Keyano Swim Club took the women’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay in a time of 3:47.49. The team made up of Fionnuala Pierse (56.64), Lili Margitai (57.01), Natasha Fung (57.59) and Paige Kremer (56.25) finished over a second ahead of the Pointe-Claire Swim Club who collected the silver in a time of 3:48.71.
The UBC Dolphins finished third in a time of 3:50.46.
In the men’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay Island Swimming’s team made up of Alec Page (51.11), Peter Brothers (52.04), Keegan Zanatta (51.54) and Jeremy Bagshaw (49.64) took the gold in a time of 3:24.33. The UBC Dolphins finished second in a time of 3:25.29 followed by the Cascade Swim Club that finished third in a time of 3:27.99.
Going into the final day of competition the Edmonton Keyano Swim Club leads the team point standings with a total of 526 points. They are followed closely by the Pointe-Claire Swim Club (514 points) and the UBC Dolphins (495 points).
Full results can be found here.
