Canada Wins Inaugural North American Challenge Cup; Two Mexican Age Group Records Fall

LOS ANGELES, California, August 13. CANADA salted away the team victory during the final day of swimming at the inaugural North American Challenge Cup, while a pair of Mexican National Age Group records fell.

Canada closed out the meet to win the Cup with 1,442.5 pints, while Southern California swimmers took second with 1,327.5 points. Mexico placed third with 910 points.

Mexico's Daniel Ramirez Carranza, 14, broke his national record in the 13-14 50 freestyle with a time of 24.78, while Arantxa Medina Alegria, 13, set the Mexican mark for the girls 13-14 100 breast with a time of 1:18.11.

In other action, Southern California swimmer Brittany Borowitz won the girls 17-18 100 breast title with a time of 1:6.51, while Canada's Sarah-Lee Hevey finished second in 1:17.24 and Alberta's Shelbi Snodgrass took third in 1:17.58.

Later, Borowitz doubled with a gold-medal time of 2:24.60 in the girls 17-18 200 IM. Alberta's Lindsay Morton (2:26.90) and Snodgrass (2:27.08) completed the rest of the top three in the event.

"I was really excited at this meet," Borowitz said. "I dropped three seconds in the 200 IM today for my lifetime best. Isn't it, 'Go for the gold?'"

Mexico's Ricardo Alvarado Jimenez touched first in the boys 17-18 100 breast with a time of 1:05.09, while Canada's Julian Monks (1:06.17) and Alberta's Jason Block (1:06.75) placed second and third, respectively.

Canada went 1-2-3-4 in yet another event during the weekend as Caroline Murray dropped 16 seconds from her seed time to win in 8:53.07. Teammates Breanna Hendriks (9:01.27), Samantha Cheverton (9:05.20) and Amy Xu (9:08.56) completed the top-four sweep. Notably, Canada's Barbara Jardin clocked an 8:53.11 to win the 15-16 800 free title.

"I was confident I could win so I stayed with the pack the first 400," Murray said. "Then, I came back strong really picking up the final 200."

Canada took the top four spots in the girls 17-18 50 free as well. Hayley Nell won in 26.19 to add the title to her 100 free win, while Murray (27.50), Hendriks (27.67) and Alberta's Brittany Ozar (28.40) finished second through fourth.

"I was really happy with my swim tonight," Nell said. "I dropped half a second today; it's been a long time to get a big drop."

In the boys 17-18 50 free, Mexico's Gilbert Garcia Conde-Garcia captured gold in 24.49 over Southern California's Nolan Koon at 24.60. Canada's Greg Gerum finished third in 24.72.

"My swim felt good," Conde-Garcia said. "I was worried about the guy next to me, but got the touch."

Mexico's Roy Ramos Mejia claimed the boys 17-18 1500 free with the lone sub-16:00 effort of the day. He clocked a 15:58.70 for the win, while Canada's Steven Bielby (16:11.26) and Mexico's Gerardo Banuelos Sandoval (16:26.87) took second and third, respectively.

Canada's Andrew Ford led a 1-2 effort for his team while also sweeping the IM events with a time of 2:07.09 in the boys 17-18 200 IM. He had previously won the 400 IM earlier in the meet. Compatriot Gerum finished second in 2:09.56, while Southern California swimmer Koon took third in 2:12.29.

"My time was surprisingly fast," Ford said. "I got excited for every race here, and this was a 2.9 second drop for me."

In 400 medley relay action, the Canadian contingent of Karah Stanworth-Belleville, Hevey, Cheverton and Nell won the girls 17-18 title in 4:21.42, while compatriots Evan Buck, Monks, Zack Chetrat and Dominique Massie-Martel took home the boys 17-18 crown in 3:53.39.

Special thanks to Jeremy Anderson and Mary Jo Swalley for contributing to this report.

North American Challenge Cup 2007

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