By Jim Morris

TORONTO – Tammy Cunnington is no longer satisfied with simply breaking records.

In her own words, S4 Para-swimmer from Red Deer, Alta., “smoked” her own world record Friday morning at the Olympic and Para-swimming Trials, presented by RBC.

Cunnington swam the multi-class 50-metre butterfly in 53.10 seconds. That shaved over three seconds off the S4 world record she set in December at the U. S. Paralympics Swimming Open in Bismarck, N.D.

“In Bismarck I was going after the record that was there and I just broke it,” said Cunnington. “To smoke it this morning, I am happy.”

Cunnington has undergone a steep learning curve since joining the Para-swimming team last year. She won three medals at the 2015 Toronto Parapan Am Games.

“Every race, even when it’s that good, I still have things that can be corrected and improved,” she said. “I still have room to grow.

“My technique in each of the strokes. My preparation and calmness on the blocks, getting ready to race. I’m getting more experienced and getting better.”

In other Para-races, Jean-Michel Lavalliere led the morning heats of the multi-class men’s 50-m butterfly. The S7 swimmer from Quebec City was timed in 33.84 seconds.

Riley McLean of Vernon, B.C., set a Canadian record in the S4 50-m. His time of 1:02.59 lowered his own mark by 6.55 seconds.

“Every race, even when it’s that good, I still have things that can be corrected and improved,” she said. “I still have room to grow.” – tammy cunnington

Veteran Audrey Lacroix of Pont-Rouge, Que., took a step on the road to the Rio 2016 Olympics by posting the fastest time in the 200-m butterfly heats.  She was timed in two minutes, 11.07 seconds while Katerine Savard, also of Pont-Rouge, was second in 2:13.10. The Olympic qualifying standard is 2:09.33.

“That was a good morning swim,” said Lacroix. “The race is tonight. That’s when I have to do it to make the team.”

Swimmers must finish first or second in their race and also be underneath a nomination standard to be named to the Olympic team.

The top two finishers in the men’s 100-m freestyle both swam under the nomination time of 48.99 seconds. Santo Condorelli of Kenora, Ont., was clocked in 48.09 seconds. Calgary’s Yuri Kisil of the High Performance Centre – Vancouver took .49 off his own personal best to be 48.58.

Olivia Anderson of Toronto led the qualifiers for Saturday night’s women’s 800-m final, finishing in 8:41.75. Canadian record holder Brittany MacLean of Toronto, who already has qualified in the 400-m and 200-m freestyle, was second in 8:42.64.

Tabitha Baumann, the sister of Ashton Baumann who qualified in the 200-m breaststroke Thursday night, was third in 8:45.26.

Meanwhile, at the U.S. Open Water National Championships at Miromar Lakes, Fla., Stephanie Horner of Montreal and Jade Dusablon of Quebec City took a step toward competing at Rio. They finished in the top 20 and now advance to the Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier in Setubal, Portugal.

Horner swam the 10-km race in 2:05.51.03 while Dusablon was 17^th in 2:05.51.23. Samantha Harding was 22^nd in 2:07.10.56. Only the top two Canadians advanced.

“I knew going into the race I had to be calm, controlled, focused and swim smart,” said Horner, who is looking to compete at her third Olympics.

Horner only recently began racing the marathon. At the 2007 Pan Am Games she won a silver in the 200-m freestyle and bronze in the 200-m individual medley.

“I am someone who likes a challenge,” she said. “It took me a while to decide whether I wanted to stick to the pool.

“So many people around me supported me and said ‘give it a shot.’ It took me three races to get the hang of it. It can be so rough and tough.”

Heading into Friday night 14 swimmers (11 women, three men) have made the nomination standard for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The Para-swimmers who have met the nominations standard will be acknowledged on Sunday.

The trials, which end Sunday, have attracted 762 swimmers from 187 clubs cross Canada, the United States and other parts of the world. The competition is being held at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, the same pool that hosted last year’s Pan American and Parapan Am Games.

All finals sessions will be webcast live on CBCSports.ca beginning at 6:45 p.m. ET. For full results and more information visit www.swimming.ca/trials.