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Oleksiak wins 100-m butterfly with personal best at Speedo Eastern Canadian Open

News, Swimming –

MONTREAL – Penny Oleksiak set a personal best whilst winning women’s 100-metre butterfly at the Speedo Eastern Canadian Open on Saturday, rising to the challenge of swimming alongside hometown star Katerine Savard.

Oleksiak, 16, who is preparing for the first Canadian Olympic & Para-swimming Trials of her promising pool career, clocked 58.44 seconds, ahead of the host Club Aquatique de Montreal’s Katerine Savard in 58.79. Oleksiak’s Swimming Canada High Performance Centre – Ontario training partner Audrey Lacroix (1:00.20) earning bronze.

“I definitely wasn’t really expecting a personal best, but Kat really pulled me though it,” said Oleksiak, whose previous long-course best in 100-m butterfly was 58.50-second silver-medal effort at the 2015 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships last August. “She went out really fast and she brings it home really well, so getting to swim by her really helped me a lot.

“It’s basically one of the only times this year that I get to race against really fast Canadians such as Kat,” added Oleksiak. “I know that at Trials, Kat and Noemie Thomas are going to be going a lot faster than I was tonight, so I am excited to see what’s going to happen.”

Zack Chetrat, also of HPC-ONT, won men’s 100-m butterfly in 54.97, one-10th of a second ahead of CAMO’s Ivan Cocunubo (55.07) and RHAC Predators’ Kourosh Ahani (55.08).

Etobicoke Swimming Club teammates Olivia Anderson and Meryn McCann each won races by more than five seconds. Anderson, 16, clocked 4:18.13 in women’s 400-m freestyle gold. McCann, 17, took 200-m backstroke in 2:11.42.

I know that at Trials, Kat [Savard] and Noemie Thomas are going to be going a lot faster than I was tonight, so I am excited to see what’s going to happen.
– Penny Oleksiak

Another promising performance from a teenager came via Markham Aquatic Club’s Javier Acevedo, 18, who clocked 2:02.79 in the men’s 200-m backstroke. That was good for a more than 2.6-second margin over Oakville’s Matthew Mac.

“I think I showed everyone that I’m coming up in the 200 back,” Acevedo said. “My 200 back has a come a long way in the last year and a half and I wanted to show everyone in Canada – if they did not know already – that I want to be a factor at Trials. My coach and I really worked on going out fast and having a good back 100. I’m interested to see how Sunday goes, as well as my last meet before Trials, in two weeks.”

Richard Funk of HPC-Ont completed a breaststroke sweep, easily winning men’s 50-m in 28.07 seconds. The host CAMO club’s Marie-Soleil Jean-Lachapelle won women’s 50-m breaststroke in 32.16.

North York Aquatic Club’s Teddy Kalp (400.89) claimed the men’s 400-m freestyle gold.

The highlight of the morning session was a Canadian 4 x 50-m men’s relay record set by CAMO Team 1. Mirando Jarry, Karl Krug, Jonathan McGarrell and Antoine Bernard-Lalonde won in 1:31.54.

The Easterns conclude Sunday. Heats are at 9 a.m., and the finals including 200-m butterfly, 200-m individual medley and men’s 1,500-m freestyle start at 5 p.m. (all times ET).

For full results:
camonatation.org/resultats/Eastern16/index.html