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Hannah takes 200 to become double world junior backstroke champ

2019 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships –

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Jade Hannah won her second gold medal of the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Budapest Thursday and she didn’t hesitate to share credit for the victory.

“I had a rough start to the beginning of the season after coming off an injury, but I worked with our mental performance consultant, the coaches and support staff so I thank them all 1,000 times for all of their help,” the 17-year-old Halifax native said moments after winning the women’s 200-m backstroke title.

“I could not have done this without them,” she added.

Hannah, who trains out of Swimming Canada’s High Performance Centre – Victoria, also captured the 100-m back title on Tuesday.

She won the 200-m final with a lifetime best time of 2:09.28, her second personal best of the day. She was 0.99 seconds ahead of runner-up Lena Grabowski of Austria.

National Development Coach Ken McKinnon praised Hannah’s efforts, noting she established a fast, but composed pace early in the race then maintained her stroke for the final half to secure the victory.

Despite being a returning world junior medallist and two-time 2018 Commonwealth Games finalist, Hannah admitted she had doubts at the start of the season.

“Because I was able to come back like this, I have a new appreciation for swimming now. I don’t take anything for granted,” she said.

The foursome of Josh Liendo, Cole Pratt, Brooklyn Douthwright and Hanna Henderson collected a fourth-place showing in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay with a time of 3:30.23. They were 1.11 seconds behind the bronze-medal winning team from Italy.

“The team was super positive coming into the race and it was very exciting to be part of the relays,” said Henderson, who recorded her best-ever split of 54.42.

The Mississauga, Ont., native said she was calmer for the relay final than she was during earlier races.

“At the start,” she said, “I was shaking because this is such a big competition.”

James LeBuke earned an 11th place showing in his 50-m freestyle semifinal with a personal best time of 22.88 seconds.

“It was a good race – better than my morning swim, but I still think there’s a lot left for me in that swim,” said LeBuke, a native of Revelstoke, B.C.

Avery Wiseman was 11th in the 100-m breaststroke semifinals and Sebastian Somerset was 16th the 50 back.

McKinnon said some of Thursday’s results did not go as well as the team expected, but added it is important to remember the World Juniors is a development meet.

“We have swimmers learning very quickly how tight these events are and how they have to stay composed in the heat of the moment,” McKinnon explained.

The meet continues through Sunday in the Hungarian capital.

Full results: http://www.omegatiming.com/2019/7th-fina-world-junior-swimming-championships-live-results

Webcast link: https://www.finatv.live/