EDMONTON – She looked up at the clock and pure joy spread across Sarah Fournier’s face.

Fournier won the women’s 50-metre freestyle Saturday night at the 2018 Canadian Swimming Trials. Her victory, in 25.82 seconds, earned the Quebec City native a spot on the Canadian team competing at next month’s Pan Pacific Championships in Japan.

“You have no idea how happy I am right now,” said Fournier, the only new swimmer added to the Canadian team Saturday.  “When I touched the wall I just felt pure happiness, all the pressure was instantly lifted off my shoulders.”

The Pan Pacs will be Fournier’s first appearance on a senior Canadian national team. She did represent Canada at the 2017 Universiade in Taipei, where she was part of the gold medal 4×100-m freestyle relay team.

“It will help me, I’ve lived the experience a bit, even though it’s not exactly the same thing,” she said. “It will be less stressful for sure.”

Markus Thormeyer and Para-swimmer Samantha Ryan both threatened Canadian records while Mackenzie Padington swam a personal best time to win the gruelling 1,500-m freestyle on Day 4 of the meet.

Ryan won the women’s multi-class 100-metre butterfly in one minute, 10.12 seconds. That was close to her Canadian S10 record of 1:09.73.

The Saskatoon native has spent the last year training with head coach Mike Thompson at the High Performance Centre – Quebec.

“This past year training went really well,” said the 19-year-old. “I got in a good groove with the crew in Montreal.

“Just the team atmosphere is a lot more professional. Everyone has the same goal of high performance and swimming well. We have a good balance between having fun and being focused.”

Thormeyer won the men’s 200-m backstroke in 1:59.13. He has the Canadian record of 1:57.34, set by Matt Hawes in July 2009, in his sights.

“It was a goal coming in today,” he said. “I’ve seen those Canadian records since I was a kid. When I look around on the men’s Canadian team I see a lot of talented guys. I think we should get our hands on them.”

More than 400 athletes from 105 clubs are participating in the meet being held at the Kinsmen Sports Centre. Swimming Canada will select and announce its pool teams for next month’s Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo and the Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships in Cairns, Australia. The winner of each Olympic event automatically qualifies.

Besides Canadian swimmers, athletes from France, Peru, Thailand, Singapore, Scotland and the U.S. are also competing.

The Trials, which end Sunday, are being webcast by CBC sports athttp://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1274889283829.

Results and full meet information will be available at:https://www.swimming.ca/en/events-results/events/2018-canadian-swimming-trials/

Padington, who swims for the Campbell River Killer Whales, won the 1,500-m in 16:25.38, shaving more than five seconds off her personal best time.

“I did not think I would go a best time, considering how I’ve been doing in this meet,” said Padington, who previously won the 400 and 800 metres. “It makes me really trust the training that we have been putting in for Tokyo.”

Kylie Masse of Windsor, Ont., won the women’s 200-m backstroke in 2:08.94. Earlier in the week Masse won the 100-m back, the event in which she holds the 100-m world record.

“I always want to continue improving,” said Masse. “I have higher and higher goals for myself each time I swim. I think they are both (100 and 200) a work in progress.”

Kennedy Goss, who swims for the Granite Gators, finished second in 2:10.14, a time that will put her in consideration for selection for the Pan Pac team.

“After last night having a disappointing 400 free, it was good to come back and get under that FINA A (time) and hopefully solidify my spot on the team,” said Goss, a member of the bronze medal winning 4×200-m freestyle relay team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Kate Sanderson will also be considered for selection after finishing the 1,500-m in 16:30.83.

In other events:

• Calgary’s Yuri Kisil, who trains at the High Performance Centre – Vancouver, won the 50-m freestyle in 22.06 seconds.
• Max Rousselle, of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., won the Para-swimming multi-class 100-m fly in 1:02.82.
• In the Para multi-class 50-m butterfly, Tess Routliffe, who trains at the High Performance Centre – Quebec, won the women’s race in 39.12 while Nathan Clement, who trains with Natation Gatineau, won the men’s race in 35.11.