POINTE-CLAIRE, Que. – Megan Wheeler of the Nepean Kanata Barracudas was a double victor on Friday at the 2022 Speedo Eastern Canadian Swimming Championships.

The 18-year-old posted a personal best time to win the women’s senior 50-m backstroke in 29.66 seconds. Rebecca McGrath of Pointe-Claire was second in 30.04 and Siporah Sang of London, Ont., third in 30.10.

‘’It was nice to get that best time,’’ said Wheeler. ‘’I was able to clean up a few things from the morning swim, so I was happy with it.’’

About two hours later she returned to the pool deck and swam to victory in the 400-m individual medley clocking 4:54.86. It was her third gold of the meet so far after taking the 100 back on Thursday. In addition, she helped Nepean to silver in the 4X200 freestyle relay won by the Etobicoke Swim Club.

Other winners in women’s senior were Ella Jansen of Etobicoke in the 100-m freestyle (56.59) and 50-m butterfly (27.40) and Julie Brousseau of Nepean in the 100-m breaststroke (1:12.43).

Reid Tichy of Richmond Hill, Ont., notched his first win of the meet taking the senior men’s 100-m freestyle in 52.19. Victor Dagenais of Montreal’s club CAMO was second in 52.36 and Eric Ginzburg of the Ramac Swimming club in Toronto was third in 52.41.

‘’I wasn’t expecting this since I was seeded 20^th on the psych sheet,’’ said Tichy, 19, now based at a U.S. College. ‘’I just went in not expecting too much since I hadn’t raced long course since 2020.’’

Brandon Adams of Dorval, Que., won the men’s senior 50 back in 26.73. Samuel Bourassa of Côte-des-Neiges was second in 27.03 and Alexandar Lackovic of Windsor, Ont., third in 27.28.

‘’Before the race I felt I couldn’t lose and I felt confident,’’ said Adams, 25. ‘’The last month there’s been a lot of racing so it’s good to come out here and get a first medal at Easterns as the old man.’’

Other winners in men’s senior were Brayden Taivassalo of Markham, Ont., in the 100 breast (1:04.12) Gabriel Tejada of Ottawa in the 50 fly (24.37), Danylo Sosnovik of Pointe-Claire in the 400 IM (4:39.04) and the Pointe-Claire Swim Club in the 4X200 free.

Winners in women’s youth included Sylvia Statkevisius of Etobicoke in the 100 free (57.48), Grace Lu of the Ottawa Olympians in the 100 breast (1:12.79) and Lindsay Gordon of Pointe-Claire in the 400 IM (5:01.36).

Winners in men’s youth included Antoine Sauvé of Côte-des-Neiges in the 100 free (52.85), Sinan Onur of Pointe-Claire in the 100 breast (1:05.60), and Sebastian Barboza Gonzalez, the 1500 free winner Thursday, in the 400 IM (4:32.39).

Three Canadian records were broken in Para races. Tyson Jacob of Bromont, Que., bettered the S5 50 back and 50 fly marks to 49.92 and 47.42 while Marian Catalin Barbu of St-Eustache, Que., lowered the national record for the S6 men’s 100 free clocking 1:16.26.

‘’I was a little nervous before my race but it was pretty exciting,’’ said Barbu. ‘’I really wanted to improve my time and I’ve been performing well so far.’’

More than 700 athletes from 110 clubs are here this week at the meet which runs through to Sunday at the Pointe-Claire Aquatic Centre.

For more information: https://www.swimming.ca/en/events-results/events/2022-speedo-eastern-championships/