O’Croinin, Bellio Pickup Five Wins At Canadian Junior Championships

2018 RBC Canadian Junior Swimming Championships

• Wednesday, July 25 – Monday, July 30th, 2018
• Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Pan Am Pool
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Results

The 2018 RBC Canadian Junior Swimming Championships wrapped up on Monday from Winnipeg, Manitoba, with the best junior swimmers in the country competing over the course of five days from the Pan Am Pool before the open water races went off in St. Malo Provincial Park on day six.

They were many multi-event winners at the meet, but Katrina Bellio of Etobicoke and Emma O’Croinin of Edmonton Keyano really stole the show with five individual wins apiece.

Bellio, just 13, won the 200 (2:05.03), 400 (4:23.60) and 800 free (8:55.10), the 400 IM (4:56.75), and the 1.5km open water event (19:35.50) in the 13-14 girls’ category. The 200 free, 800 free and 400 IM were all personal best times.

On her win in the 1.5km (via Swimming Canada): “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.” “It was an awesome meet for me, I’m excited to see what comes next year.”

Other standouts in the girls’ 13-14 age group were Catherine Minic, who won the 100 (1:02.70) and 200 fly (2:19.63), and Regan Rathwell who won the 100 (1:03.78) and 200 back (2:17.47).

In the 15-17 age category, O’Croinin was a workhorse in winning the 200 (2:01.62), 400 (4:15.47), 800 (8:45.49) and 1500 freestyle (16:35.47), along with the 400 IM (4:52.62). Four of her five swims were best times, narrowly missing her mark of 4:15.31 in the 400 free from just over a week ago at the Canadian Trials.

Sarah Watson from the University of Manitoba was the only other multi-event winner for the 15-17 girls, taking the 50 free (26.16) and 100 fly (1:00.72).

On the men’s side, Joshua Liendo, Cole Pratt, Raben Dommann and Guillermo Cruz Zuniga all had three individual wins.

The 15-year-old Liendo of the North York Aquatic Club won the 14-15 100 fly (53.97), 50 free (23.36) and 100 free (51.19), all lifetime best times (the 50 free tied his best from Pan Pac Trials). Pratt, also 15, took on a massive schedule, winning the 200 free (1:53.99), 100 back (56.72) and 200 IM (2:05.96), and adding runner-up finishes in the 100 free, 100 fly and 200 fly (and a 3rd place finish in the 50 free).

In the 16-18 age group, Dommann won the 400 (3:59.56), 800 (8:13.17) and 1500 freestyles (15:39.17), and Cruz Zuniga came out on top in the 50 free (23.07), 100 free (51.29) and 100 fly (55.32). The 800 and 1500 were PBs for Dommann, as were the 50 free and 100 fly for Cruz Zuniga.

OTHER MULTI-EVENT WINNERS

• Alexander Axon of Markham won the 800 (8:21.49) and 1500 freestyle (16:00.92) in the boys’ 14-15 category.
• Jacob Gallant of FAST won the 200 breast (2:24.15) and 400 IM (4:27.85) for the 14-15 boys.
• 16-year-old Gabe Mastromatteo of Kenora was victorious in the 100 (1:02.00) and 200 breaststroke (2:18.58) in the 16-18 category.

In the relays, Etobicoke won five out of the eight, with Cascade picking up two and Island one. Pratt was a key cog on Cascade’s two victories on the men’s 400 and 800 free relays, giving him five golds for the meet and nine total medals.

In the points battle, Cascade (984.5) easily won the men’s crown, but Etobicoke’s women put up 937 points (356 more than anyone else) to comfortably clinch them the overall win with 1700. Pointe-Claire (1347) edged out Cascade (1329.5) for 2nd.