Canada Cup, Toronto: Victoria Poon Doubles, Three Meet Records Set on First Night

By David Rieder

TORONTO, Canada, November 26. THE Canada Cup opened on Friday in Toronto, featuring short course meters swimming. PPO's Victoria Poon stared on day one, claiming wins in both the women's 100 free and 50 fly. Meanwhile, swimmers beat three meet records on the opening day. Among the records, Toronto's Tobias Oriwol beat Ryan Lochte's four-year old men's 200 back meet record, set just months before Lochte upset Aaron Peirsol in the same event at the World Championships

Poon opened the night with her 100 free victory, clocking 53.60, which put her among the world top-20 for this year. Island's Julia Wilkinson grabbed second in 54.01, ahead of PPO's Sanrine Mainville, who posted a 54.35. Poon returned later to win the 50 fly in 26.46, beating CSQ's Katerine Savard (26.63). Mainville earned third place once again with her 26.75.

Oriwol, meanwhile, blazed to a 1:54.32 in the 200 back, clipping Lochte's 1:54.36 set back in 2006. Oriwol moved into the world top-25 with the swim. SCAR's Graham Hawes ran down PPO's Charles Francis for runner-up honors on the final 50, clocking 1:57.80 and 1:58.04, respectively. Marlin's Andrew Ford set the next meet record, as his time of 4:14.94 in the men's 400 IM beat his own standard of 4:15.53 set in 2008. LAC's Matt Kwatyra (4:18.49) and UT's Zach Summerhayes (4:19.82) rounded out the top three.

Trinidad's Joshua Mc Leod set the session's final meet record, winning the men's 50 fly in 23.70. That time crushed Thomas Kindler's four year old meet record of 24.02 and left Mc Leod less than a tenth shy of the world top-25. LAC's Joe Bartoch earned second in 24.07, well short of his Canadian record of 23.31. Meanwhile, Island's Stefan Hirniak placed third in 24.38.

Trinidad's George Bovell dominated the men's 100 free, winning in 48.61. Bovell, the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist in the 200 IM, won by more than a half second, as University of Alberta's Joel Greenshields took second in 49.18, and UBC Dolphins' Brian Johns took third in 49.21. In the men's 100 breast, UBC's Scott Dickens and SF's Sean Nugent tied for first, both posting times of 1:00.43. Toronto's Warren Barnes checked in at 1:00.58 for third. Notably, UCSC's Paul Kornfeld touched the wall first in 1:00.37, but he was disqualified.

Rogue Et Or's Genevieve Cantin just missed Julia Smit's meet record in the women's 200 back, posting a 2:06.08, just off the 2:05.99 Smit posted two years ago. However, the time moved Cantin to 13th in the world. ESwim's Brittany MacLean posted a second-place time of 2:07.67, which also placed her in the top-25 for this year, while UCSC's Katy Murdoch grabbed third. Murdoch's time of 2:08.35 is more than five seconds slower than the Canadian record of 2:03.31 she set last year.

With Canadian record-holder Annamay Pierse out of the race due to a recent bout of Dengue fever, UCSC's Erica Morningstar took advantage, winning the women's 100 breast in 1:07.02, moving her to the world top-25. UBC Dolphins' Haylee Johnson touched out teammate Martha McCabe for second, 1:07.58 to 1:07.64. Meanwhile, Pierse's younger sister Hanna took the women's 400 IM. UBC's Pierse posted a 4:40.21, while CNPG's Karyn Jewell (4:41.04) and ESwim's Susana Escobar (4:42.22) completed the podium finishers.

The 400 free relays closed out the session. PPO's team of Poon, Audrey Lacroix, Mainville, and Genevieve Samur won the women's race in 3:38.49, while Island's Blake Worsley, Hirniak, Keegan Zanatta, and Alec Page grabbed the men's in 3:22.93.

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