Brittany MacLean’s Sizzling Canadian Record in 800 Free Headlines Final Night at Canadian Nationals

VICTORIA, British Columbia, April 5. THE final night of competition at the Canadian Nationals being held in Victoria produced a Canadian national record in the women’s 800-meter freestyle to kick off the evening.

Women’s 800 free
Brittany MacLean of Etobicoke crushed the Canadian record in the women’s 800-meter free at the Canadian Nationals this evening en route to her third victory of the meet.

MacLean threw down an epic time of 8:24.91 to take down Brittany Reimer’s 2005 record of 8:27.59 this evening by more than two seconds. The win went along with MacLean’s victories in the 200 and 400 freestyles earlier in the meet. She also moved to fourth in the world in the event behind Jessica Ashwood (8:19.76), Mireia Belmonte (8:23.45) and Jazmin Carlin (8:23.91).

Meanwhile, Keyano’s Tabitha Baumann had paced MacLean earlier in the race, but faded off the pace around the 200-meter mark to wind up second overall in 8:32.37. Savannah King rounded out the top three in 8:41.14.

Women’s 200 fly
After dropping the Canadian record in the women’s 100-meter fly last night, Katerine Savard threw down a sizzling back half in the women’s 200-meter fly for her second gold of the Canadian Nationals.

Savard posted a winning time of 2:07.61 to down the meet record of 2:07.86 set by Audrey Lacroix back in 2009. Her time shot her to third in the world this year, behind only Madeline Groves (2:06.81) and Ellen Gandy (2:07.06) as Savard is still shooting for a 2:06 this summer.

Canadian record-holder Lacroix, who posted a 2:05.85 back in 2009 for the national record, picked up the second spot on the Pan Pacific squad with a second-place time of 2:08.84. That swim bettered her previous season best of 2:09.18 from the Arena Grand Prix in Austin.

Brenna MacLean finished third overall in 2:13.21, while Noemie Thomas notably had a fly and die situation. She went out hard, touching first in 1:01.20, before winding up eighth overall in 2:17.61.

Men’s 200 fly
Zack Chetrat closed out the field in the men’s 200-meter fly at the Canadian Nationals with a smooth swim in the distance fly event.

Chetrat raced his way to the title in 1:59.00, while men’s 400-meter IM victor Alec Page took second overall in 1:59.65. Oakville’s Mack Darragh rounded out the top three with a time of 2:00.10 with David Sharpe taking fourth overall in 2:00.54.

There was a clear separation from the top four and the rest of the pack as the bottom four finishes in the 2:02-2:04 range.

Women’s 50 free
Canadian record-holder Victoria Poon clipped her PPO training partner Sandrine Mainville by the slimmest of margins in the women’s 50-meter freestyle this evening.

Poon edged Mainville, 25.29 to 25.30, for the title. Poon had been hoping for a bit faster of a time, potentially even challenging her national record of 24.75, but was happy to just come out with the win. Chantal Van Landeghem rounded out the top three in the splash-and-dash with a time of 25.49.

Men’s 50 free
Yuri Kisil, who had already won the 100-meter free earlier this week, took home the men’s 50-meter free this evening following a false start disqualification by Luke Peddie at the Canadian Nationals.

Peddie had original won the race with a 22.13, but only had that type of speed after jumping the start. Kisil, however, had the fastest legal swim of the night with a 22.53.

Kyle Troskot finished second overall with a 22.77, while David Hibberd of Simon Fraser was the only other sub-23 in the finale with a 22.89 for third-place honors overall.

Women’s 200 IM
Erika Seltenreich-Hodson earned her second IM title of the week as she topped the women’s 200-meter IM this evening at the Canadian Nationals.

Seltenreich-Hodgson turned in a best time in the 200-meter IM with a 2:12.26 for the win as she moved to eighth in the SwimVortex world rankings. She added the win to her 400 IM victory from earlier in the meet.

Canada certainly was proud of its women’s IM this evening as the top three swimmers in the event cleared the FINA A cut time. Oakville’s Marni Oldershaw raced her way to 2:13.72 for second-place honors, while Neptune’s Sydney Pickrem snatched third overall in 2:13.78 in what proved to be a strong top three this evening.

Men’s 200 IM
Oakville’s Evan White made it public that the 18-year-old was gunning for Ketih Beavers’ Canadian record in the men’s 200-meter IM, and came up a bit short of the mark at the Canadian Nationals.

White, who went out under record pace through the 150-meter mark with a 1:30.07, did not have the freestyle leg to take down the national record as he settled for the title in1:59.84. That time still put him fourth in the SwimVortex world rankings behind only Kosuke Hagino (1:55.90), Daiya Seto (1:58.12) and Daniel Tranter (1:59.06). In fact, only one other swimmer has broken 2:00 this year with Daniel Wallace clocking a 1:59.95 in Scotland. Notably, White beat Andrew Ford’s meet record of 2:00.03 from a year ago.

Luke Reilly raced his way into a distant second with a time of 2:03.79, while David Riley touched third overall in 2:04.19.

Men’s 1500 free
Ryan Cochrane, easily the top distance freestyler out of Canada as the reigning Olympic silver medalist in the 1500 free, cruised to victory in the metric mile this evening at the Canadian Nationals.

Cochrane turned in a winning time of 15:01.72, second in the world rankings by just .01 this year. Only Gergo Kis has been fastest, with a 15:01.71 from the Milan Trophy meet in Italy earlier this year. Cochrane’s swim proved to be so strong, that his 800-meter split of 7:55.34 stands third in the world in the 800 free behind only Mack Horton (7:53.88) and David McKeon (7:54.29).

Cochrane swam the race pretty much by his lonesome as his Island training partner Will Brothers could only manage a second-place effort of 15:15.35. Brothers’ time still managed to be 11th in the world rankings this year. Keyano’s Kier Maitland wrapped up the top three finishers in the metric mile with a 15:16.22.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x