arena Swim of the Week: Simon Fonseca Breaks Antoine Sauve’s Quebec 17-Year-Old Record In 200 Free

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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

Club Aquatique Montreal’s Simon Fonseca delivered a standout performance in the 200 freestyle last weekend at the Ontario Age Group Championships (LCM) in Toronto, setting a new Quebec Provincial Record and climbing the all-time Canadian age group rankings.

Fonesca, 17, put up a time of 1:50.29 in the prelims of the 200 free, breaking Antoine Sauve‘s Quebec Record for 17-year-old boys of 1:50.85 set at the 2023 World Junior Championships in Netanya, Israel.

Fonseca improved on his previous best time of 1:51.23, set at last summer’s Quebec Grand Prix.

Split Comparison

Sauve, Old Quebec Record Fonesca, Old PB Fonseca, New Quebec Record
26.18 26.54 25.96
53.96 (27.78) 55.41 (28.87) 53.37 (27.41)
1:22.05 (28.09) 1:23.72 (28.31) 1:21.71 (28.34)
1:50.85 (28.80) 1:51.23 (27.51) 1:50.29 (28.58)

Sauve owns the Canadian Senior Record of 1:46.39, set at last year’s Canadian Swimming Trials, which earned him a berth on the World Championship team.

In addition to breaking the Quebec Record for 17-year-olds, Fonseca now moves into the top 10 all-time in the Canadian boys’ 15-17 age group, slotting into a tie for 8th after his previous best ranked him 27th.

All-Time Performers, Canadian Boys’ 15-17 200 Freestyle (LCM)

  1. Laon Kim (University of Calgary Swim Club), 1:48.51 – 2025
  2. Ethan Ekk (Unattached), 1:48.68 – 2024
  3. Hassaan Abdel-Khalik (Etobicoke Swim Club), 1:48.74 – 2009
  4. Alexander Pratt (Cascade Swim Club), 1:49.39 – 2018
  5. Filip Senc-Samardzic (Toronto Swim Club), 1:49.82 – 2023
  6. Teddy Kalp (North York Aquatic Club), 1:50.06 – 2013
  7. Francis Brennan (Belleville Beast Swim Team), 1:50.14 – 2025
  8. Paul Dardis (University of Calgary Swim Club) / Simon Fonseca (CAMO), 1:50.29 – 2023 / 2026
  9. Brian Johns (RACER), 1:50.34 – 2000

After setting the record in the prelims, Fonseca scratched the final of the 200 free to focus on the 1500 free, where he won gold in a time of 15:55.85. He also won the 400 free (3:58.36) and 800 free (8:10.40), and set a new best time of 51.11 to claim bronze in the 100 free in Toronto.

Fonseca has represented Canada twice on the international stage, winning a pair of relay bronze medals at the 2024 Junior Pan Pacs as a prelim swimmer before racing at World Juniors last year in Otopeni, which included throwing down a 1:49.88 split on the 4×200 free relay that finished 7th.

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About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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