PHOTO COURTESY OF SPORTDAD SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

TORONTO – In one of the most anticipated races of Night 2 at the RBC Canadian Junior Championships, Mehdi Ayoubi of the Club Aquatique de Montréal took home the gold medal in the boys 17-18 100-m freestyle in a personal best time of 49.93, the only swimmer to crack the 50-second mark.

“I’m happy with the race, it was a best time by 0.8,” said Ayoubi. “I kept getting 50.7 but I worked hard after Trials with Greg and I’m pretty happy with the results.”

Ayoubi has been strong through the first two nights of the competition at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, also claiming a bronze medal in the boys 17-18 100-m butterfly on Wednesday night.

Côte Saint-Luc Aquatics’ Ainsley McMurray was the gold medal winner in the girls 17-18 100-m freestyle. She posted a time of 56.29 seconds, topping her previous best time as well as the Quebec provincial age group record (15-17) on her way to the victory.

McMurray and her opponents faced adversity before the race as the swimmers were faced with an extended delay. “Going into a race after a delay is a mental destabilizer but to have a race like that was really good,” McMurray said. “I was pretty intimidated going in even though I had the fastest entry time, but it was fun to be able to race against them like that.”

In the girls 13-14 100-m freestyle final, only 0.01 seconds separated the two leaders as BEAST’s Brooklyn Douthwright touched the wall in 58.15 seconds, edging out Asia Minnes in the most tightly contested finish of the night.

Asia Minnes bounced back and overcame an early deficit in the girls 13-14 400-m individual medley to capture the gold medal. Minnes swam a strong breaststroke to take the lead heading into the freestyle leg. She would maintain her lead through the last 100 metres on her way to the first place finish in a time of 4:56.65.

Minnes also won gold in the girls 14-16 200-m backstroke on Wednesday night. She will be back in action on Friday morning in the girls 100-m breaststroke.

Aela Janvier won gold and set a personal best of 4:52.19 in the girls 15-17 400-m IM. World junior team member Victoria Kwan of the Markham Aquatic Club touched second and Vancouver Pacific Swim Club’s Ellie Maradyn rounded out the top three.

In tonight’s 2×100-m freestyle relay action, the girls team representing the Oakville Aquatic Club stood atop the podium while Etobicoke Swim Club’s team bested the competition in the boys’ event.

ESWIM’s Justin Konik was coming off a gold medal performance in the boys 14-16 100-m freestyle earlier in the night and served as the lead swimmer for his club’s gold-medal-winning relay effort.

The RBC Canadian Junior Championships continue through Monday at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre and are being webcast at http://sportscanada.tv/swimmingcanada/.

For full results from the first day of action: https://results.swimming.ca/2017_Juniors/.

Here is a complete list of medal winners from tonight’s action.

Girls 100-m freestyle

• 13-14
  • Gold: Brooklyn Douthwright, BEAST
  • Silver: Asia Minnes, UNCAN
  • Bronze: Kyla Nelson, EKSC
• 15-17
  • Gold: Ainsley McMurray, CSLA
  • Silver: Kyla Leibel, RDCSC
  • Bronze: Aleksa Gold, TSC

Boys 100-m freestyle

• 14-16
  • Gold: Justin Konik, ESWIM
  • Silver: Thomas Boyd, SLSC
  • Bronze: Canek Bracho, CW
• 17-18
  • Gold: Mehdi Ayoubi, CAMO
  • Silver: Stephen Calkins, UCSC
  • Bronze: Ruslan Gaziev, MAC

Girls 400-m IM

• 13-14
  • Gold: Asia Minnes, UNCAN
  • Silver: Emma O’Croinin, EKSC
  • Bronze: Elizabeth Harper, CASC
• 15-17
  • Gold: Aela Janvier, PCSC
  • Silver: Victoria Kwan, MAC
  • Bronze: Ellie Maradyn, VPSC

Boys 400-m IM

• 14-16
  • Gold: Brodie Young, HYACK
  • Silver: Collyn Gagne. OAK
  • Bronze: Robert McRae, PCSC
• 17-18
  • Gold: William Marois, CASE
  • Silver: Frederik Kamminga, OSC
  • Bronze: Charles André Coffin, PCSC

Girls 4×200-m freestyle relay

• 13-17
  • Gold: Oakville Aquatic Club
  • Silver: Markham Aquatic Club
  • Bronze: Vancouver Pacific Swim Club

Boys 4×200-m freestyle relay

• 14-18
  • Gold: Etobicoke Swim Club
  • Silver: Island Swim Club
  • Bronze: Cascade Swim Club