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Jacob sets Para swimming record, Cannings wins fifth gold on Day 4 of Canadian Championships

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MONTREAL – The 2022 Speedo Canadian Junior and Senior Swimming Championships continued on Thursday with 16 more gold medals handed out at Montreal’s Olympic Park pool.

The eight-day competition is Swimming Canada’s first non-trials national meet since 2019 and marks the first-ever Canadian championships combining junior and senior events.

A total of 633 swimmers and Para swimmers from 142 clubs across the country are competing in age groups ranging from 13-14 (women) and 14-15 (men) all the way up to the senior level.

Pool events run until Sunday, with preliminaries starting at 9:30 a.m. and finals at 5:30 p.m. daily. Open water races are set for Monday at the Olympic Rowing Basin.

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DAY 4 HIGHLIGHTS – JULY 28

Kamryn Cannings from University of Calgary Swim Club continued her domination on Day 4 as she captured her championship-leading fifth gold medal, including three individual and two relay titles. The 16-year-old trailed early in the women’s 200m butterfly 15-17 age group final but ended up winning in two minutes, 14.62 seconds, well ahead of Ruitong Zhang from the Vancouver Pacific Swim Club (2:17.52) and Madisen Jacques from the Langley & Abbotsford Olympians (2:18.39).

“That was the plan all along,” said Cannings about her strong second half. “I’ve raced these girls since I was so young so I know their strategies and how they swim. They both did amazing but my plan was to work the back half and I thought I did that really well.”

Also in the women’s 15-17 age category, Emma Finlin from the Edmonton Keyano Swim Club claimed her third gold medal of the week thanks to a personal best time of 16:40.90 in the 1500 freestyle. The 17-year-old had already triumphed in the 400 free and 400 individual medley earlier in the competition.

“I was really excited going into the race but also pretty nervous because there were some very good swimmers with me,” said Finlin, who represented Canada in open water swimming at the 2022 Worlds and is part of the Junior Pan Pacific Championships team that will head to Hawaii in August. “I tried to keep a strong, consistent pace. Now I can build on that for Pan Pacs next month.”

On the men’s side, Kent Goni Avila from the Ramac Aquatic Club won the 100 free 16-18 final in    51.46, adding to his 100 back title from Tuesday. In the 100 free, Goni Avila beat out four members of the Canadian Pan Pacs team, including Yu Tong Wu from the Surrey Knights Swim Club, who finished three hundredths of a second behind him.

“This morning I had a split of 0.5 between my first and second 50, so I tried to come out faster tonight and it worked,” said Goni Avila. “Yu Tong is very strong. It would have been his fourth title this week. He’s really good. It’s always fun to race him.”

At the senior level, Jacob Gallant from Fast prevailed in the men’s 200 breaststroke in 2:16.23, out-touching UBC’s Brodie Young by 55 hundredths for the win. Justice Migneault, also of UBC, finished fifth on the longer distance after claiming gold in the 50 and 100 breast earlier in the championships.

“It was a really fun race. I love swimming the 200 breast, especially against quality competition,” said Gallant. “I was able to take it out fast and start pushing the third 50 especially. I either had to make the other guys choose to go with me or stick to the game plan. I was able to leave them behind and hold them off over the last stretch.”

Meanwhile in Para swimming, Tyson Jacob from Les Loutres set a national S5 record in the men’s 50 fly. The 18-year-old posted a time of 45.65 to lower his own mark of 46.42 set on July 1st.

“The butterfly is my best stroke,” said Jacob. “I trained a lot with my coaches Nadine (Rolland) and Fred (Frédérick Asselin). They support me in an amazing way and today we worked very hard. I gave it everything I had and it allowed me to beat my Canadian record by almost one second.”

Below is a complete list of national champions from Day 4.

DAY 4 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS – JULY 28

Women

50 butterfly (Para multi-class): Myriam Soliman, HPC-Quebec, 43.19

100 butterfly (Para multi-class): Angela Marina, Brantford Aquatic Club, 1:10.33

1500 freestyle (13-14): Ziyun Liu, Canadian Dolphin Swim Club, 17:57.87

1500 freestyle (15-17): Emma Finlin, Edmonton Keyano Swim Club, 16:40.90

1500 freestyle (18+): Megan Willar, Pointe-Claire Swim Club, 17:03.01

200 butterfly (13-14): Ziyun Liu, Canadian Dolphin Swim Club, 2:22.76

200 butterfly (15-17): Kamryn Cannings, University of Calgary Swim Club, 2:14.62

200 butterfly (18+): Catherine Minic, Grande Prairie Piranhas, 2:15.60

Men

50 butterfly (Para multi-class): Tyson Jacob, Les Loutres, 45.65

100 butterfly (Para multi-class): Félix Cowan, HPC-Quebec, 1:12.55

100 freestyle (14-15): William H. Browne, unattached, 51.92

100 freestyle (16-18): Kent Goni Avila, Ramac Aquatic Club, 51.46

100 freestyle (19+): Blake Tierney, University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, 50.78

200 breaststroke (14-15): Oliver J. Dawson, Grande Prairie Piranhas, 2:21.33

200 breaststroke (16-18): Steve Frantskevich, Ramac Aquatic Club, 2:17.19

200 breaststroke (19+): Jacob Gallant, Fast, 2:16.23