EDMONTON – Mary-Sophie Harvey had her second stellar outing in women’s 400-metre individual medley this week, coming close to a best time at the Canadian Swimming Championships.

The 16-year-old Harvey, who is part of the Intensive Training Program – Montreal, won in four minutes 47.55 seconds. Harvey opened a lead with a pair of 41-second lengths in the breaststroke leg and prevailed by nearly 3.5 seconds. For the Saint-Jerome, Que., native, it was an encouraging result with the Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships just more than two weeks away.

“It’s my second-best time ever,” related Harvey, who also picked up a bronze on Friday with Club Neptune Saint-Jerome’s mixed medley relay team. “My breaststroke is coming along – all of my strokes are coming along. It’s really special because it’s my second medal at the senior nationals, and the first two years ago was also in the 400 IM.”

The men’s 400-m IM included nine of the top 10 finishers from the Canadian Olympic & Para-Swimming Trials. Luke Reilly of the UBC Dolphins Swim Club, who won at the Trials but did not meet the FINA standard required for a nomination, won gold on Friday in 4:21.36.

“The biggest thing about this meet was to just get back in the water,” Reilly, 20, said. “Trials was pretty disappointing and it was pretty difficult coming to the pool every day. The plan was to get back into and race and build off what I did at Mare Nostrum.

“One of the hardest things in swimming is nothing will ever will go the way you want to,” Reilly added. “You have to be adaptable. That is something that I have struggled with and have to work on a lot. If you can get that from a young age, you’re going to be a really good swimmer.”

Jeremy Bagshaw, who in April came within a quarter-second of qualifying for the Olympics, won men’s 200-m freestyle in 1:48.97.

“This morning I was a little bit short on my strokes and just wanted to lengthen it out,” said Bagshaw, who was on the 2015 senior national team. “This is a good meet, it’s a chance to see the result of all the work I have done since trials. I am looking forward to the 400 [on Saturday].”

It’s really special because it’s my second medal at the senior nationals, and the first two years ago was also in the 400 IM. – Mary-Sophie Harvey

Sixteen-year-old sprinter Rebecca Smith won women’s 50-m butterfly in 27.21 seconds, even though she had to swim back-to-back races since 200-m freestyle was also held on Friday. Smith is also part of the squad headed to the Junior Pan Pacs, which take place Aug. 24-27 in Maui.

“It’s been a challenging bouncing back from Age Groups, but I just wanted to go in there and race and compete with the best in the country,” the Red Deer, Alta., native said. “For sure, it’s motivation for Junior Pan Pacs. I was happy with getting a win in the 50 fly. It was a hard race. I had just a few minutes after the 200 free but I just put my head down and went for it.”

Two University of Manitoba athletes won golds – Kelsey Wog in women’s 50-m breaststroke (31.70) and Mackenzie Glover in women’s 100-m backstroke (1:01.96). Wog also won 200-m breaststroke on Wednesday.

Saturday’s finals begin at 6 p.m. Alberta time. The program includes finals in 100-m butterfly, 400-m freestyle and 200-m IM.

The championships may be viewed live at: sportscanada.tv/swimmingcanada/watch-live-pool-1

For full results: http://results.teamunify.com/cseksc/2016CSC/

CSC 2016: FINALS, DAY 2

WOMEN 200-M FREESTYLE
Gold: Danica Ludlow, IS, 2:00.72
Silver: Mackenzie Padington, IS, 2:02.32
Bronze: Roxane Lemieux, CN Mustang Boucherville, 2:02.90

MEN 200-M FREESTYLE
Gold: Jeremy Bagshaw, IS, 1:48.97
Silver: Chad Bobrosky, CASC, 1:50.39
Bronze: Carson Olafson, UBCDS, 1:51.09

WOMEN 50-M BUTTERFLY
Gold: Rebecca Smith, CASC, 27.21
Silver: Maggie MacNeil, LAC, 27.32
Bronze: Marie-Lou Lapointe, CAMO, 27.46

MEN 50-M BUTTERFLY
Gold: Luke Peddie, UBCDS, 24.56
Silver: Nicolaas Dekker, RAPID, 24.69
Bronze: Tai Long Singh, NEPTUNE, 24.77

WOMEN 100-M BACKSTROKE
Gold: Mackenzie Glover, UMAN, 1:01.76
Silver: Danielle Hanus, NEW, 1:01.96
Bronze: Ingrid Wilm, CASC, 1:02.13

MEN 100-M BACKSTROKE
Gold: Rob Hill, CHENA, 56.00
Silver: Noah Choboter, ROD, 56.26
Bronze: Anders Klein, EKSC, 56.71

WOMEN 400-M IM
Gold: Mary-Sophie Harvey, NEPTUNE, 4:47.55
Silver: Tessa Cieplucha, OAK, 4:51.00
Bronze: Sarah Darcel, IS, 4:52.25

MEN 400-M IM
Gold: Luke Reilly, UBCDS, 4:21.36
Silver: Tristan Cote, ESWIM, 4:23.77
Bronze: Jeremy Tremblay, SAMAK, 4:24.73

WOMEN 50-M BREASTSTROKE
Gold: Kelsey Wog, UMAN, 31.70
Silver: Sarah Fournier, CNQ, 32.18
Bronze: Ashley McGregor, PCSC, 32.40
Bronze: Marie-Laurence Godin, PCSC, 32.40

MEN 50-M BREASTSTROKE
Gold: Richard Funk, TSC, 27.64
Silver: Nick Kostiuk, EKSC, 28.32
Bronze: James Dergousoff, CHENA, 28.62

MIXED 400-M MEDLEY RELAY
Gold: Edmonton Keyano Swim Club, 3:57.81
Silver: Cascade Swim Club, 3:58.50
Bronze: Neptune Natation, 3:59.13

For more information, contact Erica Newman ([email protected]).