The Canadian Deaf National Team capped off an exciting weekend at the 2016 Speedo Western Canadian Open by setting a new Canadian deaf record in the 4 x 50 medley relay.
Team members Brandon Van Wyk (age 21, ON), Joshua Baerg (age 20, BC), Thomas Osborn (age 19, MB) and Damiano Panetta (age 19, ON) posted a time of 1:56.44 to set the new standard.
In addition to the Canadian deaf record, three of the four national team members achieved personal best times during the event. Thomas Osborn posted a time of 26.76 in the Men’s 50 metre butterfly besting his previous time set at the 2015 World Deaf Swimming Championships. Brandon Van Wyk had a personal best in the 50 metre backstroke with a time of 29.97, while Joshua Baerg beat his previous best in the 50 metre freestyle at 26.80.
This marked the first time that the Canadian Deaf National Team has participated as a team in a regional level Swimming Canada competition. “This meet was a terrific learning experience for our team”, said Deaf National Team Coach Judy Baker. “Some of our swimmers have not had the opportunity to compete at this type of high level hearing competition.”
The Canadian Deaf National Swimming Program would like to thank Swimming Canada, Swim Manitoba and all of the officials for their tremendous support throughout the event. “Swimming Canada and Swim Manitoba officials were able to integrate our swimmers in an absolutely seamless fashion,” said Baker. “The officials executed the “Para” hand start and had the individual strobe light in place for every single deaf start, without exception. We couldn’t have felt more welcome.”
The Canadian Deaf National Team members will now return to their home hearing swim clubs to continue their training and competition. The Canadian Deaf National Swimming Program hopes to continue this excellent collaboration with Swimming Canada in the future as they prepare the Canadian Deaf National Swimming Team for the 2017 Deaflympics in Samsun, Turkey.
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Swimming news courtesy of Deaf Swimming Canada.