Canadian Short Course Championships: Record Book Keeps Burning

TORONTO, Ontario, Canada, March 12. THE Canadian national record book kept on burning as swimmers demolished record-after-record during the second night of swimming at the Canadian Short Course Championships.

National-record holder Ryan Cochrane smashed his previous record with a sterling time of 7:39.57 in the men's 800 freestyle. The effort cut a large amount of time from his old best of 7:46.17 set at the Speedo Western Championships in February. Chad Bobrosky finished second in 7:54.35, while Jeremy Bagshaw took third in 7:54.83.

Victoria Poon and Erica Morningstar went head-to-head in the women's 100 free with Poon taking the crown, 53.52 to 53.70. Genevieve Saumur completed the podium with a third-place 54.37.

The men's 100 free featured a pair of swimmers under the Canadian record as Brent Hayden (46.27) and Colin Russell (46.94) became the first Canadians under 47 seconds. Russell owned the previous record with a 47.23 set at the CIS Championships in February. Stefan Hirniak finished third in 48.27.

Annamay Pierse broke the 1:05 barrier for the first time in the women's 100 breast when she lowered her national record with a time of 1:04.67. She is now just under a second away from Leisel Jones' world record of 1:03.72, while her Canadian record of 1:05.16 set at the CIS meet fell by the wayside. Amanda Reason took second in 1:06.85, while Haylee Johnson placed third in 1:07.50.

Scott Dickens kept the record breaking going with a national-record time of 58.48 in the men's 100 breast. The performance broke the tie he had with Morgan Knabe of matching times of 59.34 set in 2002 and 2009. Mathieu Bois placed second in 59.38, while Warren Barnes collected third in 1:00.66.

During the women's 400 IM, Tanya Hunks posted a Canadian record of 4:32.57 to break the previous record of 4:34.90. That standard, set by Joanne Malar in 1999, was the short-lived oldest women's short course record on the books. Malar's time also was the only women's short course record from before the turn of the millennium. Alex Komarnycky finished second in 4:35.12, while Hanna Pierse touched third in 4:37.91.

Tim Ruse won the men's 400 IM with a time of 4:12.57, 10 seconds off the national record of 4:02.72 set by Brian Johns in 2003. Andrew Ford (4:12.70) and David Dimitrov (4:16.72) rounded out the top three.

Poon returned for her second sprint national record of the night with a time of 26.21 in the women's 50 fly. The performance beat the 26.52 set by Jennifer Carroll at the 2008 Canada Cup. Carroll took second in 26.75, while Paige Miller placed third in 26.98.

Joe Bartoch lowered his preliminary Canadian record of 23.33 in the men's 50 fly when he stopped the clock in 23.31 during the evening. Kelly Aspinall finished second in 23.68, while Nicolas Murray took third in 23.90.

The foursome of Morningstar, Kevyn Peterson, Breanna Hendriks and Katy Murdoch blasted the national record in the 800 free relay with a time of 7:51.80. The swim wiped out the 7:55.91 set by the University of Calgary last month.

Meanwhile, Hirniak, Bagshaw, Riley Pickerl and Cochrane raced through the men's 800 free relay with a 7:10.27 to break the Canadian record. The previous standard of 7:10.95 was set by the UBC Dolphins in 2003.

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