WINDSOR – Canadian swimmers wasted no time making a splash on the global stage.

Marking the first international competition of the calendar year, the 2017 Speedo Can Am Para-swimming Championships allow 156 athletes to gauge their progress ahead of the busy summer season. Held at the Windsor International Aquatic and Training Centre, the Can Am Championships will also be a qualifying opportunity for the 2017 World Para Swimming Championships beginning in September.

The excitement found on deck was palpable.

“I’ve been meeting a bunch of fast people,” explains eleven-year-old Colleen Cloetta, who is participating in her first-ever Can Am Championships. “It’s fun!”

Channeling that exhilaration has been a key factor in finding success on the opening day of competition, and two-time Paralympian Morgan Bird is thriving off of that uplifting energy.

“In terms of my mental preparation, it really helped for me to think positively,” said the Calgary native. “I was really trying to use my energy as a positive thing going into this meet.

“The feeling in the water was really good.”

Bird, 23, set a new national record in the S8 200-m freestyle, while claiming a second gold medal in the 100-m butterfly. She was able to sneak under the 1:20 barrier in her latter race – a feat she had not accomplished since 2013.

“[T]hat’s faster than what she did last summer trying to get ready for Rio,” said Wendy Johnson, Bird’s coach at the Cascade Swim Club, “she’s excited that that went pretty well.”

Bird was one of seven athletes to re-write Canadian records on Friday. Among the record-setters was twenty-year-old Tyson MacDonald, who broke the S14 200-m freestyle mark in both prelims and finals, setting a new Americas record in the process. In the women’s S3 200-m freestyle, Aly Van Wyck-Smart’s 100-metre split set a national record in the 100-m freestyle event by seven seconds.

Other notable mentions were Americans Leanne Smith (S4) and Evan Austin (S7), who set a world record and Americas record respectively in the 50-m butterfly. Austin’s 50-metre victory came after he had set his first Americas record of the day in the 100-metre distance.

As the competition continues, Bird is planning to maintain her optimism as she shifts her preparation towards her important races.

“These next two days are my really big events,” she said, “and I’m really hoping to keep this positive start to the meet carrying forward until the very end.”

DAY 1 RESULTS

 

Full results: https://results.swimming.ca/2017_Can_Ams/index.html

 

Gold Medallists:

WOMEN 200-M FREESTYLE

S3: H. Aceves Perez, Mexico

S4: Leanne E. Smith, USAR

S5: Holly Doucette, SWAT

S6: Elizabeth A. Hedger, MAKO

S8: Morgan Bird, CASC – New Canadian Record

S10: Briana Naomy Espinosa Mata, JAL

S12: Aspen E. Shelton, FAST

S13: Gia N. Pergolini, GOLD

S14: Angela Marina, BRANT – New Canadian Record

MEN 200 FREESTYLE

S4: G. Sanchez Martinez, Mexico

S5: Danial Murphy, TCSC

S6: R. Martinez Valdez, Mexico

S8: Hicham Boufekane, CNSH

S9: Cameron McCuaig, ROW

S10: DeShangdi A. Hartman, SASA

S14: Tyson MacDonald, WRMS – New Canadian & Americas Record

WOMEN 400-M FREESTYLE

S6: V. Trejo Delgadillo, Mexico

S7: Tess Routliffe, TORP

S8: Julia K. Gaffney, Aquakids

S9: Natalie Sims, Otters

S10: Briana Naomy Espinosa Mata, JAL

S12: Aspen E. Shelton, FAST

S13: Madeleine Babcock, BAT

S14: Miori Henault, CASE – New Canadian Record

MEN 400-M FREESTYLE

S6: Zachary Shattuck, UN-MD

S7: Alexander Sharpe, NCSA

S8: Philippe Vachon, MEGO

S10: Isaac Bouckley, ANM

S11: Matthew Cabraja, COBRA

S13: Tyler Mrak, KCS

WOMEN 200-M BREASTSTROKE

S5: Valerie Drapeau, NN – New Canadian Record

S6: Amanda K. Sheward, FCA

S9: Samantha Tubbs, USAR

MEN 200-M BREASTSTROKE

S6: Zachary Shattuck, UN-MD

S9: Alexander Corasaniti, TIDE

S14: Tyler J. Austin, BBA

WOMEN 100-M BUTTERFLY

S6: V. Lopez Gomez, JAL

S8: Morgan Bird, CASC

S9: Katarina Roxon, AASC

S10: Ariann Hunsicker, SKSC

MEN 100-M BUTTERFLY

S7: Evan R. Austin, USAR – New Americas Record

S8: L. Andrade Guillen, Mexico

S9: David H. Gelfand, WYW

S10: Alexander Elliot, ROW

S13: Nicolas-Guy Turbide, CNQ

S14: Maxime Rousselle, CNHR – New Canadian & Americas Record (Prelims)

WOMEN 50-M BUTTERFLY

S1: Breanna Sprenger, RYD

S3: H. Aceves Perez, Mexico

S4: Leanne E. Smith, USAR – New World IPC Record

S5: Haley S. Beranbaum, USAR

S6: V. Trejo Delgadillo, Mexico

S7: Sarah Mehain, CNHR

S8: L. Lopez Valdes, JAL

S9: Michelle A. Konkoly, UNNT

S13: Gia N. Pergolini, GOLD

S14: April Lam, OSC

MEN 50-M BUTTERFLY

S4: J. Castorena Velez, Mexico

S5: Danial Murphy, TCSC

S6: R. Martinez Valdez, Mexico

S7: Evan R. Austin, USAR – New Americas Record (Prelims)

S8: Roderick U. Sewell, USAR

S10: DeShangdi A. Hartman, SASA

S12: Tucker A. Dupree, NTSC

S14: Connor Bissett, OSC

WOMEN 400-M INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY

S7: Emily Sayeau, KYPAC

S9: Elise Morley, PSCB

S14: Cassidy Tran, KYPAC

MEN 400-M INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY

S14: Jonathan Pierce, UN-LA