Swimming Canada – Winnipeg– Katrina Bellio’s gold in the women’s 1.5-km open water event on Monday at the St. Malo Provincial Park solidified Etobicoke Swim Club as the top team at the RBC Canadian Junior Championships.

Etobicoke Swim Club finished the competition strong with 1700 points. Pointe-Claire Swim Club finished second with 1347 points and third went to Cascade Swim Club with 1329.50 points.

In a close finish, Bellio touched first in the women’s 1.5-km open water race 3 seconds ahead of Regan Rathwell from Greater Ottawa Kingfish Swim Club. Catherine Minic from the Grande Prairie Piranhas finished third.

“It was pretty good, pretty hard,” said Bellio. “I wasn’t expecting so many girls to go out really fast, but I think that pushed me to have a really good finish at the end of the race.”

Bellio won the women’s 13-14 high-point award with her wins in the 200-m, 400-m, and 800-m freestyle, and the 400-m individual medley. She also took the silver medal in the 200-m individual medley and bronze in the 200-m butterfly.

“It was an awesome meet for me,” continued Bellio. “I’m excited to see what comes next year.”

Eric Brown of the Pointe-Claire Swim Club was the top finisher in the men’s 14-15 1.5-km event 12 seconds ahead of second place.

“It was good. It was a lot of fun,” said Brown. “My strategy was just to sprint the last lap.”

Second place went to Calvin Slinn from the Winskill Dolphins Swim Club followed by Matthew Syrgiannis from the Regina Dolphins Swim Club.

Alexander Katelnikoff of the Cascade Swim Club finished first in the men’s 16-18 3-km event.

“The race was pretty good, smooth water. I just tried to lead the race,” said Katelnikoff. “It’s a little gutsy going out and leading the whole race but it’s fun to try something different.”

Katelnikoff was followed by Patrick Hussey from the Pointe-Claire Swim Club and Louis Bertrand from the Greater Ottawa Kingfish Swim Club.

Island Swimming’s Chantel Jeffrey finished first in the women’s 15-17 3-km race.

“It was really good! I’m very happy with that,” said Jeffrey. “On the last lap and half I really went for it.”

Acacia Benn of Kisu Swim Club, came second followed by Kate Sullivan from the Mount Pearls Marlins Swim Club.

The conclusion of the open water event marks the end of the 2018 RBC Canadian Junior Championships.

For complete results from the competition: https://results.swimming.ca/2018_Canadian_Junior_Championships/

 

Here is the complete list of medals from today’s open water event:

Boys 14-15 1.5-km Open Water:

• Gold: Eric Brown, PCSC
• Silver: Calvin Slinn, WDSC
• Bronze: Matthew Syrgiannis, ROD

Girls 13-14 1.5-km Open Water:

• Gold: Katrina Bellio, ESWIM
• Silver: Regan Rathwell, GO
• Bronze: Catherine Minic, GPP

 

Boys 16-18 3-km Open Water:

• Gold: Alexander Katelnikoff, CASC
• Silver: Patrick Hussey, PCSC
• Bronze: Louis Bertrand, GO

 

Girls 15-17 3-km Open Water:

• Gold: Chantel Jeffrey, ISC
• Silver: Acacia Benn, Kisu
• Bronze: Kate Sullivan, MPM

 

Rebecca Cheverton
Coordinator, Operations and Marketing, Swimming Canada
Coordonnatrice, opération et marketing Natation Canada
307 Gilmour Street, Ottawa, ON. K2P 0P7
t. 613.260.1348 ext 2000 | | f. 613.260.0804 | rcheverton@swimming.ca