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Canadian Youth Team completes strong showing in Bermuda

News, Swimming –

HAMILTON, Bermuda – Young swimmers such as Jade Hannah of Halifax and Faith Knelson of Saltair, B.C., had multiple individual golds as the Canadian Youth Team shone at the Validus Bermuda National Championships this weekend.

The prime directive for the youth team is team-building among the top teens in the country, as identified by national development coach Ken McKinnon. In the course of rigorous training and work on relays during their training camp, the Canadian contingent represented well on Saturday and Sunday. Knelson, who is due to join the Swimming Canada High Performance Centre – Victoria in a little more than a month, won girls 13-and-over 50 and 100-metre backstroke. Hannah, a Bermuda-born Nova Scotian, pulled off a 100-200 backstroke double and a silver in 100-m butterfly.

Other multiple winners included 15-year-old Kayla Sanchez, who won the 100-m, 200-m and 400-m freestyle and 200-m individual medley over Saturday and Sunday while swimming a heavy volume of races. Sixteen-year-old Ruslan Gaziev won the boys 13-and-over 200-m and 400-m freestyle.

“This whole experience was really exciting,” said Knelson, 14, who will soon begin a gradual transition from being coached by Dusan Toth-Szabo to working with HPC-Victoria head coach Brad Tingey, who will become her full-time coach in September. “Bermuda is a really beautiful area, I was excited about that. This has also prepared me for upcoming events such as Junior Pan-Pacs [in August]. It’s just about learning how to adapt with racing and training all in the same day, especially with relays.”

The girls 400-m medley relay, consisting Hannah (backstroke), Knelson (breaststroke), Octavia Luo (butterfly) and Sanchez (freestyle), turned in a respectable time of four minutes 21.55 seconds.

Knelson, who is a Canadian age-group record holder in 100-m breaststroke, won that event in one minute 9.95 seconds on Saturday.

“I was pretty sick Saturday morning going into the prelim, so I was quite nervous,” Knelson related. “To come close to my best time was a good accomplishment. To make it close to a best time was really good because I swam that time at [Canadian Olympic & Para-swimming] Trials and I was fully tapered there against some of the best in Canada.”

Hannah, age 14, captured 100 backstroke in 1:04.36, winning by more than four seconds. The Halifax native clocked a 2:17.41 200 backstroke on Saturday.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever been back to Bermuda,” Hannah said. “I had some family friends come to the pool and watch me swim, so that was really nice.

“The best part about this experience has been the team environment,” Hannah added. “It’s really awesome, all of us are in the same situation right now and we’re all striving to do our best. It’s really nice and comforting them to have them beside you, the whole way.”

It’s just about learning how to adapt with racing and training, especially with relays.

— Faith Knelson

The male 400-medley relay team won a mixed event. Tai Long Singh covered the backstroke leadoff leg while Josh Young (breaststroke), Mackenzie Flowers (butterfly) and Riley Wall (freestyle) brought the win home in 4:01.17.

Flowers, a 17-year-old from the Edmonton Keyano Swim Club, also ripped off an in-training 57.21-second 100-m butterfly on Sunday to lead a medal sweep with Ruslan Gaziev (58.30, silver) and Young (1:00.79, bronze).

“It’s been fun training with guys who swim the same way that I do,” Flowers said. “It’s been a really good experience so far with the training environment. We can all push each other to go faster.

“You see everyone going behind the blocks in the pool to cheer you on, and that helps pull you along.”

The trio also swept in 400-m freestyle, with Gaziev (gold, 4:12.04) finishing ahead of Flowers (4:14.25, silver) and Young (4:16.89, bronze). Gaziev and Young were also 1-2 in 2oo-m freestyle in 1:56.65 and 1.59.55, respectively.

For complete results, visit IslandStats.com.