EDMONTON – Nicholas Bennett won a pair of gold medals as the Speedo Canadian Open wrapped up Saturday at the Kinsmen Sports Centre.
Canada’s Paris 2024 Paralympic Closing Ceremony flag bearer took the multi-class 200-m freestyle in 1:59.39 about half an hour after winning the 100 breast in 1:06.84.
The three-day long course meet featured 331 swimmers representing 91 clubs from nine provinces.
Bennett’s double “was definitely more painful than I remember,” said the 21-year-old S14 swimmer, who represents Red Deer Catalina Swim Club. Bennett took a long break in the fall to recover and focus on his mental health.
“I’d been ‘on’ for two years so I definitely just needed that rest. The mental health aspect behind swimming is so much more serious than people really imagine for sure,” Bennett said. “I just wanted to race as fast as I can, tired, and a lot of racing I did was for different race plans to see if I can incorporate that when I’m actually in shape and on the world stage.”
Bennett was also atop the podium Friday, taking the multi-class 100-m butterfly in 59.07 after winning the 200-m individual medley Thursday in 2:09.73. He was one of several multiple medallists from the Paralympic Program.
Reid Maxwell of Edmonton Keyano Swim Club won the men’s multi-class 50-m freestyle in a personal best 28.06 Saturday. On Friday, the S8 swimmer won the 400-m freestyle multi-class final in a time of 4:27.30, ahead of Paris 2024 Paralympic teammate Alex Elliot. A silver medallist in the 400 in Paris, the 17-year-old also took the 100-m backstroke Friday in 1:10.90.
Shelby Newkirk also completed a double Saturday, winning the multi-class 50-m freestyle in 34.86 after finishing second in the 100 breast at 2:01.20 behind Ali Diehl of Prince Albert Sharks. The 28-year-old, swimming as an S6/SB5, also won the multi-class 100-m backstroke – her Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medal event – Friday in 1:25.05.
On the Olympic Program side, Matea Gigovic of Calgary’s Killarney Swim Club surprised herself by going a best time to win the women’s 100-m butterfly in 59.82.
It was the 16-year-old’s second time ever under a minute after breaking the barrier with a 59.89 here three weeks ago at the Alberta Winter Provincial Championships.
“I was really happy to be under that and I wasn’t expecting it. Honestly I was kind of tired by this point,” said Gigovic, who was a finalist in the 100 fly at last year’s Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Canberra, Australia. “Being able to push through just showed me that … I still have the strength, I’ve just got to work on mental preparation a little bit more sometimes.”
Gigovic also won the women’s 50 fly Friday in 26.87, lowering the meet record of 26.96 she swam in the morning heats. She recently attended a camp with the High Performance Centres in Chula Vista, Calif., and travelled with the group to the Pro Swim Series in Westmont, Ill., where she met her role model Penny Oleksiak.
“It was a really good opportunity and I really enjoyed that,” Gigovic said. “I started swimming after the Olympics in 2016 so (Oleksiak) is always my biggest role model. I got to talk to her in Westmont so that was like the best day of my life. She’s definitely my biggest inspiration.”
Eric Ginsburg of Toronto’s RAMAC matched Gigovic’s double-meet-record feat Friday, going 24.16 in the prelims and lowering that to 24.03 for the win. He followed up by winning the 100 fly Saturday in 53.58 and 50 free in 22.81.
Oliver Dawson completed a breaststroke sweep, taking the 100 on Saturday in 1:01.59. The 17-year-old from Grande Prairie Piranhas also won the men’s 200 breast Friday in 2:14.87 after taking the 50 Thursday.
Tori Meklensek of Dorval Swim Club set a meet record in the women’s 800 free Friday, winning in 8:53.71. She followed up with another win in the 400 Saturday (4:17.69).
Madison Kryger of the High Performance Centre – Ontario took the women’s 200-m backstroke Saturday in 2:13.37. The 16-year-old held off a late charge from Olympian Ingrid Wilm of HPC-Vancouver (2:13.69). Wilm won the 50 backstroke Friday (28.18).
Olympian and Canadian record holder Blake Tierney of HPC-Vancouver won the men’s 200 back in 2:02.54.
Olympian Mary-Sophie Harvey of Montreal’s CAMO club won the women’s 200-m individual medley in 2:10.41. The two-time Olympian also took the women’s 200-m breaststroke Friday in a personal best 2:25.14.
Kent Goni Avila of Wilfrid Laurier University won the men’s 200 IM in a personal best 2:04.08, ahead of 16-year-old Owen Ekk (2:04.59) and Tokyo 2020 Olympian Cole Pratt of HPC-Vancouver (2:04.60)
“This meet was about good quality racing, a chance for the athletes to get up, race each other and go head-to-head,” said High Performance Director and National Coach John Atkinson. “It’s great to see established athletes racing against up and coming swimmers who are going to be challenging for the senior team this year.”
That challenge will come at the Canadian Swimming Trials June 7-12 in Victoria, where Canada will select its teams for the World Aquatics Championships and World Para Swimming Championships, as well as World Junior Swimming Championships.
Full results: https://results.swimming.ca/2025_Speedo_Canadian_Swimming_Open/