Rising star Clark breaks Oleksiak age group record on Day 1 of Canadian Championships
MONTREAL – The 2022 Speedo Canadian Junior and Senior Swimming Championships got under way Monday at Montreal’s Olympic Park pool, with 20 titlists crowned on Day 1.
The eight-day competition is Swimming Canada’s first non-trials national meet since 2019 and marks the first-ever Canadian championships combining junior and senior events.
A total of 633 swimmers and Para swimmers from 142 clubs across the country are competing in age groups ranging from 13-14 (women) and 14-15 (men) all the way up to the senior level.
Pool events run until Sunday, with preliminaries starting at 9:30 a.m. and finals at 5:30 p.m. daily. Open water races are set for next Monday at the Olympic Rowing Basin.
The highlight of opening night came from 14-year-old rising star Maxine Clark of the University of Calgary Swim Club, who set a national age group record of 59.86 seconds in the final of the women’s 100m butterfly. The previous 13-14 age group mark of 1:00.03 was held since 2015 by none other than Canada’s most decorated summer Olympian, Penny Oleksiak.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Clark. “I didn’t think at all I would get that record coming into this meet. It’s pretty awesome.”
Meanwhile, Ingrid Wilm of the Cascade Swim Club, the only member of Canada’s 2022 world championship team competing in Montreal, won the women’s 50 backstroke open final in 27.66.
“It was an okay swim,” said Wilm, who placed fourth in the event last month in Budapest. “In the Worlds final, I took an extra stroke, so I was much too close to the wall. In this one I glided into the touch, so I was a little far. So hopefully the next time I swim the 50 back it’ll be just great and I’ll be truly happy with my race.”
In a very competitive men’s 400 freestyle 16-18 age group final, 17-year-old Yu Tong Wu of the Surrey Knights Swim Club came out on top in 3:56.53. The race featured five swimmers who will represent Canada at next month’s Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii
“It was a very exciting race,” said Wu. “I was hoping to get the national record. It didn’t go as well as I had planned. But it was great to get to race against my teammates and see where everyone’s at before we head to Hawaii.”
Also on the men’s side, in the men’s 19+ 100 breaststroke, Justice Migneault of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds touched the wall in 1:02.00 to edge Tokyo Olympian Gabe Mastromatteo by 33 hundredths.
“I learned from this morning,” Migneault said. “I had too many strokes this morning so I lengthened it out a bit tonight, thought about it more in the moment. It wasn’t a best time but I’m happy with my performance.”
In Para swimming, Abi Tripp, a two-time Paralympian representing Club de Natation Région de Québec, captured gold in the women’s 100 breast multiclass, which featured three of her teammates from the recent Para world championships in Portugal.
“It was definitely a very fast swim for Justine (Morrier) and Angela (Marina),” said Tripp, who clocked 1:39.82. “Myself, I was very happy with my race tonight. A little faster than this morning. It’s still a work in progress getting the breaststroke to where I want it to be. I’ll take this though. It’s part of the process.”
Below is a complete list of national champions from Day 1.
DAY 1 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS – JULY 25
Women
50 breaststroke (Para multiclass): Aly Van Wyck-Smart, Variety Village, 1:54.28
100 breaststroke (Para multiclass): Abi Tripp, Club de Natation Région de Québec, 1:39.82
50 backstroke (Open): Ingrid Wilm, Cascade Swim Club, 27.66
100 butterfly (13-14): Maxine Clark, University of Calgary Swim Club, 59.86
100 butterfly (15-17): Kamryn Cannings, University of Calgary Swim Club, 1:00.01
100 butterfly (18+): Danielle Hanus, University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, 1:00.02
400 individual medley (13-14): Ziyun Liu, Canadian Dolphin Swim Club, 5:03.27
400 individual medley (15-17): Emma Finlin, Edmonton Keyano Swim Club, 4:49.48
400 individual medley (18+): Bailey Andison, Carleton Place Water Dragons, 4:45.26
Men
100 breaststroke (Para multiclass): Jagdev Gill, Upper Canada Swim Club, 1:22.85
50 backstroke (Open): Loïc Courville Fortin, Club Aquatique Montréal, 26.47
100 breaststroke (14-15): Oliver J Dawson, Grande Prairie Piranhas, 1:06.38
100 breaststroke (16-18): Steve Frantskevich, Ramac Aquatic Club, 1:03.32
100 breaststroke (19+): Justice Migneault, University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, 1:02.00
400 freestyle (14-15): Laon Kim, Hyack Swim Club, 4:05.71
400 freestyle (16-18): Yu Tong Wu, Surrey Knights Swim Club, 3:56.53
400 freestyle (19+): Nathan Versluys, University of Calgary Swim Club, 3:59.68
200 individual medley (14-15): William Browne, Unattached, 2:05.67
200 individual medley (16-18): Kent Goni Avila, Ramac Aquatic Club, 2:05.17
200 individual medley (19+): Brodie Young, University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, 2:03.60
Nathan White
Senior Manager, Communications, Swimming Canada
Gestionnaire supérieur des communications, Natation Canada
t. +1 613-260-1348 x2002 | m. +1 613-866-7946 | nwhite@swimming.ca