Zack Chetrat Takes Down Five-Year-Old 200 Fly Canadian Record

Canadian swimmer Zack Chetrat finally got his hands on the Canadian national record in the 200m fly, a mark he’s been trying to gun down his entire career.

Competing in the finals of the 200 fly at the Pan Am Games, Chetrat made a surge from one of the far lanes to hold on and end up finishing third behind Brazilian Leonardo De Deus and Peru’s Mauricio Fiol.

Chetrat was second on the first 50, and was passed heading into the halfway point. It was clear he had no intention of giving up his medal position on the final 100. On the last 50 Chetrat almost matched the split times of the two leaders.

Coming in hot, Chetrat reached in to stop the clock in 1:56.90, breaking the previous Canadian record by 0.11 seconds. In doing so, Chetrat became the first Canadian swimmer ever to dip under 1:57 in the 200m butterfly.

The previous record was set by Stefan Herniak. His time was a 1:57.01 from the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Tonight marked the true definition of a home swim for Chetrat. Not only is Chetrat Canadian, but he’s from Toronto. Studying and swimming at the University of Toronto, Chetrat moved to the High Performance Centre – Ontario after graduating last year.

When the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre first opened, Chetrat and the rest of his group moved in to train. For the past season, Chetrat has been putting in workout after workout with head coach Ben Titley in the very pool he just set the Canadian record in.