Swimming World Performance of the Week: Audrey Lacroix’s 200 Fly

Photo Courtesy: Swimming Canada

Audrey Lacroix is finding a second wind in her 30s, making some noise in international competitions as she approaches the end of an impressive swimming career.

Almost 11 months since surprising most of the swimming community with a gold medal in the 200 fly at the Commonwealth Games, Lacroix has her sights set on getting a medal at this summer’s world championships. She took a big step forward in that campaign with a win Sunday at the Canet stop of the Mare Nostrum series.

With a 2:07.63, Lacroix jumps into the top 10 in the event this year, and it’s just two hundredths of a second slower than her gold medal-winning time from Commonwealth Games. It’s not likely that Lacroix was fully rested for her swim in Canet, which suggests that more is available to the 31-year-old when she races in Kazan at world championships.

A study of Sunday’s splits shows that she’s not at her peak. Though she blasted through the third 50 meters with a 32.77, she faltered in the final 50 with a 33.76 for the sixth-fastest split of the field. It didn’t matter at that point, as she had built a 1.4-second lead over her nearest competitor.

After the race, Lacroix said: “My initial goal was to swim 2:09 but after my prelims (2:09.79) I knew I could be faster in the final.” She and several others at the High Performance Center in Ontario had wrapped up a tough training session, which has to make Lacroix happy that one of her fastest times in an illustrious career is in the making.

Her Canadian record of 2:05.95 from the 2009 world championships is in jeopardy this year. Lacroix just missed out on the 200 butterfly finals at the 2011 and 2013 world championships, but the momentum is likely to carry her to a top-eight finish in Kazan.

Congratulations, Audrey, on earning the Swimming World Performance of the Week!

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