Courtesy: Swimming Canada
MONTREAL – The pool portion of the 2022 Speedo Canadian Junior and Senior Swimming Championships came to an end on Sunday with the final 12 gold medals handed out at Montreal’s Olympic Park pool.
The championships officially conclude on Monday with four open water races at the Olympic Rowing Basin, starting at 8:30 a.m.
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.
DAY 7 HIGHLIGHTS – JULY 31
Maxine Clark from the University of Calgary Swim Club put an exclamation point on a sensational week with triumphs in the women’s 50m freestyle 13-14 age group final (26.50 seconds) and the 4×100 medley open relay. The 14-year old Calgary resident concluded the championships with a remarkable nine gold medals, including five in individual events, and two silvers.
“My win in the 50 free was unexpected. It’s the last day of the meet, I’m tired, that was a lot better than I thought I could do,” said Clark, who kicked off the competition on Monday with a Canadian age group record in the 100 butterfly and received the Canadian Female High Point Aggregate award in her age group for her overall performance. “This was a long meet. I’ve just been trying to do my best and have fun.”
Meanwhile, a pair of rising stars from British Columbia also added to their gold medal collections in the men’s 1500 freestyle finals.
In the 14-15 age group, Coquitlam’s Laon Kim from the Hyack Swim Club prevailed in a personal best time of 16:12.91 to add to his previous wins in the 400 free, 800 free and 400 individual medley. The 14-year-old added silver in the 50 free later in the evening to end the championships with nine podium finishes (4-3-2).
“This week I just wanted to focus on PBs and maybe get some provincial records,” said Kim, who set a national 13-14 age group mark in the 800 free on Wednesday. “Overall, I think it was a very good week for me. I think I could have done better in some events but overall I’m very pleased with my races.”
In the 16-18 final, Surrey’s Yu Tong Wu from the Surrey Knights Swim Club clocked 15:52.28 for a close win over Lorne Wigginton from the University of Calgary Swim Club (15:54.26), who will be his teammate next month at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii. The 17-year-old Wu wraps up the meet with five gold and seven total medals, including previous victories in the 200, 400 and 800 free as well as the 100 butterfly.
“Coming into this meet I knew it was going to be really hard. Other than Trials, there are very few meets that run that long,” Wu said. “After seven days I’m pretty exhausted. There won’t be much time to rest before Junior Pan Pacs but we’ll be ready.”
In a thrilling women’s 50 free 15-17 final, Christey Liang from the Edmonton Keyano Swim Club prevailed in 20.09, one hundredth of a second faster than her Junior Pan Pacs teammate Kamryn Cannings from the University of Calgary Swim Club and Leilani Fack from the Langley & Abbotsford Olympians, who tied for second. Liang had already captured the 100 free title earlier in the competition.
In Para swimming, Shelby Newkirk from the Saskatoon Lasers Swim Club set her second S6 national record of the week by winning the women’s 50 free multi-class final in 33.53. The Tokyo Paralympian, who had set the previous mark of 34.20 at the Canadian Trials in April, also lowered her own national standard in the 100 free S6 on Saturday.
“It’s been an amazing week. It’s everything I could have asked for,” said Newkirk, who merited the Canadian Para Female Top Swim of the Meet award thanks to her gold-medal time of 1:22.46 in the 100 backstroke on Wednesday. “I had these goals at the beginning of the year, and to be able to get Canadian records and all-time personal bests at the end of a very long season, I’m very proud of all the work myself and my new coach Ryan (Jones) have been doing.”
Also setting a Canadian Para swimming mark in the women’s 50 free was Alisson Gobeil of Club de Natation de Chicoutimi, who clocked 43.30 in the morning preliminaries to better the previous S5 standard of 46.42 held since 2002 by Marie Dannehaeuser.
Below is a complete list of national champions from Day 7 as well as championship award winners.
DAY 7 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS – JULY 31
Women
- 50 freestyle (Para multi-class): Shelby Newkirk, Saskatoon Lasers Swim Club, 33.53
- 50 freestyle (13-14): Maxine Clark, University of Calgary Swim Club, 26.50
- 50 freestyle (15-17): Christey Liang, Edmonton Keyano Swim Club, 26.09
- 50 freestyle (18+): Roxane Lemieux, Neptune Natation, 25.74
Men
- 50 freestyle (Para multi-class): Zach Zona, HPC-Quebec, 30.28
- 50 freestyle (14-15): Paul Dardis, Killarney Swim Club, 23.95
- 50 freestyle (16-18): Kent Goni Avila, Ramac Aquatic Club, 23.53
- 50 freestyle (19+): Édouard Fullum-Huot, Pointe-Claire Swim Club, 22.93
- 1500 freestyle (14-15): Laon Kim, Hyack Swim Club, 16:12.91
- 1500 freestyle (16-18): Yu Tong Wu, Surrey Knights Swim Club, 15:52.28
- 1500 freestyle (19+): Benjamin Cote, Killarney Swim Club, 15:41.83
Mixed
- 4×100 medley relay (Open): University of Calgary Swim Club 1 (Aiden Norman, Maxine Clark, Aiden Luykenaar, Kamryn Cannings), 3:58.12
CHAMPIONSHIP AWARDS
Women
- Canadian Female High Point Aggregate (13-14): Maxine Clark, University of Calgary Swim Club
- Canadian Female High Point Aggregate (15-17): Emma Finlin, Edmonton Keyano Swim Club
- Canadian Female High Point Aggregate (18+): Megan Willar, Pointe-Claire Swim Club
- Canadian Para Female Top Swim of the meet: Shelby Newkirk, Saskatoon Lasers Swim Club (100 backstroke S6)
Men
- Canadian Male High Point Aggregate (14-15): Laon Kim, Hyack Swim Club
- Canadian Male High Point Aggregate (16-18): Yu Tong Wu, Surrey Knights Swim Club
- Canadian Male High Point Aggregate (19+): Blake Tierney, University of British Columbia Thunderbirds
- Canadian Para Male Top Swim of the meet: Tyson MacDonald, HPC-Quebec (100 backstroke S14)
NEW CANADIAN RECORDS
Para swimming
- Women’s 50 freestyle S5: Alisson Gobeil, Club de Natation de Chicoutimi, 43.30
- Women’s 50 freestyle S6: Shelby Newkirk, Saskatoon Lasers Swim Club, 33.53
- Women’s 100 freestyle S6: Shelby Newkirk, Saskatoon Lasers Swim Club, 1:14.55
- Women’s 150 individual medley S3: Nikita Ens, Saskatoon Lasers Swim Club, 4:21.64
- Men’s 100 backstroke S12: Hunter Helberg, Fort McMurray Mantas Swim Club, 1:17.65
- Men’s 50 Butterfly S5: Tyson Jacob, Les Loutres, 45.65
- Men’s 50 Butterfly S12: Hunter Helberg, Fort McMurray Mantas Swim Club, 30.18
13-14 age group - Women’s 100 butterfly: Maxine Clark, University of Calgary Swim Club, 59.86
- Men’s 800 freestyle: Laon Kim, Hyack Swim Club, 8:23.15