MONTREAL – Markus Thormeyer won the men’s 100-m freestyle in fine style at the 2015 Canadian Swimming Championships Friday, as the 17-year-old from Winskill Dolphins Swim Club of Tsawwassen, BC, took the title in come-from-behind fashion with a time of 50.21 seconds, beating Pan Am Games teammate Stefan Milosevic, racing for UBC Dolphin Association.
The 6’6” Thormeyer, 17, was tied for fifth after the first 50-m and surged ahead for a surprise victory at the Pointe-Claire Aquatic Centre, where the 2015 senior national championships are rolling until Sunday. He was the only swimmer with a sub-26 second final 50-m.
While Thormeyer was disappointed with his start to the race, he was happy with the results.
“I was happy I won,” he said. “It will give me confidence going into the [2015 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships] in Singapore.”
He added that he’s been working on his starts to try and improve his times in the first 50-m.
“I wasn’t out as fast as I would have liked, but that’s what I’m working on,” he said. “I’ve been working on my push-offs and I usually make up some time later on. This race showed [me] what I want to work on.”
Milosevic, 20, took second with 50.34s, ahead of Shane Ryan, 21, from Ireland’s National Aquatic Centre, who took bronze with a time of 50.71s.
Another Pan Am Games swimmer, Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson, 20, with Greater Ottawa Kingfish, took the lead after 100-m and never looked back, clocking in at an impressive 4:42.61 to take the women’s 400-m medley. Her time was four-and-a-half seconds faster than second place finisher Mami Oldershaw, 20, of Oakville Aquatic Club.
“For where I’m at, this was a solid swim,” Seltenreich-Hodgson said. “I’m happy with that race with how my training has been going.”
Oldershaw ‘s time of 4:47.24 was still nearly two seconds faster than her teammate Tessa Cieplucha, 16, who took bronze with 4:49.04.
Seltenreich-Hodgson’s biggest asset was her backstroke, which she used to gain three seconds on the competition in the second set of 100-m. She completed that second break of 100-m in 69.94s, by far the best of the competition. No other swimmer cracked 72 seconds in that split.
“My middle 200 metres is definitely my strongest,” she explained. “You train all your strokes for medley, but my [backstroke and breaststroke] are my best, so I always look for negative splits in those areas.”
Seltenreich-Hodgson hopes to carry that momentum into her last two swims of the event, the 200-m back Saturday and the 200-m individual medley Sunday.
Jason Block, 25, from the University of Calgary Swim Club grabbed his second gold of the championships with a dominating 1:01.02 time in the men’s 100-m breaststroke, getting a good start and cruising to the win. Eli Wall, 20, of Toronto Swim Club overcame Konrad Bald, 22, of Golden Horseshoe Aquatic Club for silver. Wall’s time of 1:02.34 was a tenth of a second better than Bald’s 1:02.44.
Block took the momentum from his gold-medal winning race in the 200-m breast Thursday where he bested Wall by one-tenth of a second.
Kelsey Wog, 16, from University of Manitoba Bisons won her second gold medal of the competition, with a 1:09.28 time in the women’s 100-m breaststroke. Wog won the 200-m breaststroke Thursday.
London 2012 Olympian Tera Van Beilen, 22, from UBC Dolphin Association, took silver in the race, finishing at 1:09.95, while Ashley McGregor, 22, from host Pointe-Claire Swim Club nabbed bronze with a 1:10.25 time.
Another double gold winner emerged in the women’s 50-m backstroke, where Ingrid Wilm, 17, took the title with a time of 28.45s. She overcame Kylie Masse, 19, from Windsor Essex Swim Team by four hundredths of a second. Masse clocked in at 28.49s. Wilm’s teammate, Brooklynn Snodgrass, 21, who tied with Wilm for her gold medal Thursday, took the bronze at 28.79s.
Ariane Mainville, 21, of Club aquatique Montreal won the women’s 100-m freestyle with a time of 55.72s, besting Penny Oleksiak, 15, of Toronto Swim Club, who took silver at 56.20s. Oleksiak’s teammate, Lauren Earp, 21, took bronze with 56.30s, edging Alexia Zevnik of Pointe-Claire Swim Club by one-hundredth of a second.
Luke Reilly, 19, of UBC Dolphin Association took home men’s 400-m medley gold, with a time of 4:17.48, beating Pan Am Games teammate Alec Page, 21, from Island Swimming Club. They were the only two swimmers under four minutes and 20 seconds in the men’s 400-m.
Ryan wasn’t done, as he took the gold in the men’s 50-m backstroke in his second race of the night. His time of 25.35s was seven-tenths of a second better than Adam Best, 23, from Edmonton Keyano Swim Club. Best finished with 26.05s. Tim Zeng, 17, from Chena Swim Club took the bronze with a time of 26.20s.
In the 4×200-m fresestyle relays, Edmonton Keyano Swim Club 1 were the victors on the women’s side, with a 8:16.75 time, nearly two seconds better than Club aquatique Montreal 1’s 8:18.63. None of the four swimmers for Keyano, Sophia Saroukian, Alexandra Aitchison, Georgia Kidd or Lili Margitai swam over two minutes and five seconds. Oakville Aquatic Club 2 took the bronze.
The best individual 200-m time in the relay went to Danica Ludlow, 18, of Island Swimming Club 1, turning in a time of 2:01.93, but the team just missed the podium at 8:21.54, enough for fourth place.
Milosevic and his UBC Dolphin Association 1 team took gold in the men’s 4×200-m freestyle, blowing by the second place team, Island Swimming Club 1, with a time of 7:24.87.
Island took second with 7:29.21, while Edmonton Keyano Swim Club 1 took the bronze at 7:33.27.
Swimming news courtesy of Swimming Canada.
