The final day of the short course Speedo Eastern Canadian Championships was completed today, ending the total domination of meet records that’s befallen the competition over the last four days.
Danika Huizinka, the 14-year-old from the Ajax Aquatic Club has been absolutely unstoppable this meet, earning herself three golds, two silvers, and three bronze medals before tonight’s final session. In the first event, Huizinka took home her fourth gold medal of the meet with a huge win in the 200m fly. With that win Huizinka broke the previous meet record of 2:15.64 by over two seconds, touching the wall in 2:13.54. Huizinka not only took a sweep of the fly events, but broke the meet record in every distance.
The 16&over final was won by Samantha Stratford in 2:14.37. Amazingly, Huizinka’s time in both the 100m and 200m flys would have earned her gold in the 16&over races as well.
Osvald Nitski was the male swimmer of the meet no questions asked. Going into tonight’s finals Nitski had four gold medals (all individual) and had broken two meet records. Tonight, Nitski swam the 200m fly final en route to taking the gold and breaking his third Eastern record of the meet. Nitski touched in at 2:00.09 to beat the seven-year-old record by over two seconds and win the final by over four. Nitski also went on to win the 200m IM later on, setting yet another meet record. The win which gave finalized his perfect six for six golds was swum in 2:03.81. Salmon Brayden won the 17&over 200m fly final in 2:02.11.
Elite’s Etienne Paquin-Foisy won the men’s 16&under 1500m freestyle which was swum this morning in 15:54.35. The 17&over final was won by 19-year-old Nicolas Masse-Savard in 15:34.88.
Leah Meklensek won the women’s 15&under 50m freestyle in 25.91, coming within two tenths of the meet record. Danikia Huizinka came second in the B final with a time of 26.60, which would have granted her a sixth place finish in the A final. Caro Lapierre-Lemire won the women’s 16&over 50m freestyle in a new meet record of 24.93. That time beat Windsor Essex Swim Team’s Kylie Masse by over half a second. Mass finished second in 25.69.
Javier Acevedo, another standout from Ajax, won the men’s 16&under 50m free in a new meet record of 22.96. Adrian Goin who grabbed the silver was also under the meet record, but could not match Acevedo’s speed to the wall. That win gave Acevedo his third victory of the meet; he won the 100m freestyle and 200m freestyle events as well. Cameron Kidd also set a meet record in the 50m free, this time in the 17&over category. Kidd swam an impressive 22.24 to break Olympian Colin Russell’s mark of 22.50 from 2006.
Backstroke standout Danielle Hanus won the 15&under 200m IM in 2:15.58. The Newmarket swimmer beat second place Alexis Bragman by over four full seconds to take the win. That win gave Hanus her fourth invidual gold of the meet after taking down the field in the 200m back, 100m back, and 400m IM. Samantha Stratford won the 16&over final in 2:15.68, her second win of the night after winning the 200m fly.
The Windsor Essex Swim Team won the final women’s relay of the meet with a time of 1:53.92 in the women’s 4x50m medley relay. The Guelph Marlin Aquatic Club was second followed by the Mississauga Aquatic Club. Danika Huizinka and her Ajax teammates finished fifth.
The Club De Natation Megophias won the men’s version of the event, clocking in at 1:43.54. Pointe-Claire was second followed by the Elite men.
With the relay’s over, that ended this year’s Eastern Championships. The younger generation of Canadians are seeing a huge improvement, as a lot of them were able to produce times that would have not only won their finals, but the older age group’s final as well.
For full meet results click here.
