Canada Cup: Cullen Jones, Victoria Poon, Corrie Clark Double on Final Night

By David Rieder, Swimming World high school intern

MONTREAL, Canada, July 4. THE final night of long course racing in Montreal showcased condensed finals of 50-meter events, with just four swimmers, as well as a full program of conventional finals. Three swimmers each earned two victories on the final night, Cullen Jones, Victoria Poon, and Corrie Clark.

Jones of SwimMAC Carolina took the men’s 50 fly in 24.15, over Club Wolverine’s Wu Peng, who clocked 24.48. Jones’ time left him just outside the world top-25, as Nikolay Skvortsov is 25th at 24.13. London’s Joe Bartoch (24.98) and CNPPO’s Christopher Bezeau (25.31) rounded out the field of four.

Jones came back later to dominate the men’s 50 free, convincingly beating Longhorn’s Garrett Weber-Gale. Jones clocked 22.54, to Weber-Gale’s 22.96. Both finished behind their respective season bests, as Jones is ranked 23rd in the world at 22.40 from May, while Weber-Gale posted a 15th-ranked 22.24 in March. SwimMAC’s Nick Brunelli took third in 23.11, slower than his time of 23.02 from the conventional final on Saturday, while Club Wolverine’s Bobby Savulich rounded out the field with a 23.22.

CNPPO’s Poon took the top spot in the women’s 100 free, clocking 55.82, while Tnt’s Sandrine Mainville touched out Dolphins’ Sinead Russell for second, 56.57 to 56.60. Poon returned later in the night to beat out Club Wolverine’s Natasha Moodie for the 50 free crown, 25.55 to 25.63, while Riordan took third in 25.69. The top two both clocked faster times than Poon’s top-time of 25.68 from Saturday, while Poon finished off of her 19th-ranked time of 25.32. Whitby Dolphins’ Jennifer Beckberger completed the field at 25.91.

Nittany Lions’ Clark took the women’s 100 breast in 1:09.74, beating SwimMAC’s Justine Mueller, who took second in 1:11.04. Pointe-Claire’s Ashley McGregor finished third in 1:11.10. Clark returned later for a win in the 50 breast, ahead of former world record-holder Amanda Reason. Clark clocked 32.09, ahead of Etobicoke’s Reason’s 32.45. Oakville’s Tera Van Beilen and McGregor took third and fourth, respectively, clocking times of 32.70 and 33.54.

Bluefish’s Elizabeth Beisel completed a successful meet with her fifth win in the women’s 400 IM, posting a time of 4:40.29, not far back of her tenth-ranked time of 4:39.12 from the Santa Clara Grand Prix two weeks ago. CNPPO’s Barbara Jardin (4:49.72) and CNPDG’s Karyn Jewell (4:49.76) completed the top three.

Earlier in the night, Beisel had claimed second in the 200 fly, behind Camo’s Audrey Lacroix. Lacroix, the Canadian Record-holder, checked in at 2:10.99, nearly a second ahead of Beisel’s 2:11.88. Club Wolverine’s Caitlin Dauw took third in 2:13.50. Not long after, Dauw took the 50 fly in 27.19, ahead of Cobra’s Paige Miller (27.56), CNCSQ’s Katerine Savard (27.67), and Canda Prospects’ Noemie Thomas (28.25).

Club Wolverine swept the podium in the men’s 200 fly, with Wu Peng clocking 1:56.85 to finish ahead of Mark Hsu and Dan Madwed. Wu cut time from his season-best of 1:56.92 from May to move up from 15th to 11th in the world. Hsu and Madwed clocked times of 1:58.52 and 2:01.19, respectively.

Toronto’s Warren Barnes touched out Longhorn’s Matt Lowe for the win in the men’s 100 breast, 1:03.41 to 1:03.54, while while SwimMAC’s Nelson Westby ended up third in 1:04.33. CNPPO’s Mathieu Bois beat all three for the win in the 50 breast, checking in at 29.07. Lowe (29.13), Barnes (29.14), and Westby (29.32) took second through fourth.

CNPPO teammates Hannah Riordan and Gabrielle Soucisse went 1-2 in the women’s 50 back ahead of Canada Prospects’ Kristina Steins. Riordan won in 29.54, ahead of Soucisse’s 29.81 and Steins’ 29.82. Beisel finished fourth in 30.08, slower than her second-place time of 29.78 from Saturday. SwimMAC’s Nick Thoman, meanwhile, moved up to 16th in the world with his 50 back win in 25.45, much faster than his winning time of 25.76 from Saturday. Club Wolverine’s Jacob Hansen clocked 27.26 to beat SwimMAC’s Eugene Godsoe for second place honors, as Godsoe checked in at 27.42. Kingston’s Benjamin Roberts rounded out the field in 27.78.

The Vanderkaay brothers of Club Wolverine, Peter and Alex, each earned a win on the final night. Peter, who also won the 400 free on Saturday, used a strong back-half to beat Weber-Gale for the 100 free crown, clocking 50.21 to Weber-Gale’s 50.33. Savulich finished third at 50.43. Alex, meanwhile, took the 400 IM in a time of 4:25.37. Teammate Andre Schulz came in second at 4:27.92, rounding out the sub-4:30 times, while Region of Waterloo’s Zach Summerhayes ended up third at 4:34.90.

Etobicoke swept the women’s and men’s 400 medley relays, with the women’s team of Brittany MacLean, Reason, Tasha Truscott, and Lauren Earp winning in 4:15.21, while the men’s squad of Gleb Suborov, Bogdan Knezevic, Wil Wright, and Hassaan Abdel-Khalik posting a top time of 3:50.61.

In multi-disability events, Stephanie Dixon (S9) doubled with wins in the women’s 100 back (1:11.31) and 50 back (34.27). Other winners on the women’s side included France’s Elodie Lorandi (S10) in the 50 free (29.16), Spain’s Sarai Gascon (S9) in the 100 breast (1:24.76), and USA’s Kelley Becherer (S13) in the 100 free (1:00.95).

On the men’s side Spain’s Sanchez Palomero (S8) won the 100 breast in 1:17.85, USA’s Justin Zook (S10) claimed the 50 back in 29.88, and France’s David Smetanine (S4) took the 100 free 1:28.29.

Swimming World high school intern David “The Swim Geek” Rieder is a high school swimmer in Charleston, S.C. He swims for the Southern Marlins Racing Team and often negative splits his races. He can be found on the web at swimdr549.blogspot.com and twitter.com/david2swim.

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