Kierra Smith Wins 100 and 200 Breaststrokes in Olympic Tune-up at Mel Zajac

Jul 15, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Kierra Smith if Canada competes in the women's 200m breaststroke preliminary heat during the 2015 Pan Am Games at Pan Am Aquatics UTS Centre and Field House. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher/USA Today Sports Images

Kierra Smith won both Olympic breaststroking distances at this weekend’s Mel Zajac Jr. International meet in Vancouver, Canada. She was not the only Canadian Olympic swimmer in attendance. A number of other swimmers also picked up multiple wins over the weekend.

Kierra Smith posted a 1:08.84 in the 100 breaststroke. Second went to fellow Olympian Martha McCabe in 1:10.42, just ahead of Kelsey Wog in 1:10.77.

Smith and McCabe had a much tighter finish in the 200 breaststroke. Smith had the upper hand again, with a 2:25.67 to McCabe’s 2:26.65. Ashley McGregor was third in 2:30.55. McGregor edged Smith 32.44 to 32.45 for the 50 breaststroke title. Wog was third in 32.69.

Smith was on top of the podium again with a 4:51.94 in the 400 IM. In that event, Hillary Metcalfe (4:57.33) and Allison McCloy (4:59.01) followed.

Noemie Thomas was well ahead of the field in the 100 butterfly she will race in Rio later this summer. She touched in 58.81. Mary-Sophie Harvey and Georgia Kidd completed the podium in 1:02.11 and 1:02.77. Harvey swam a 2:01.96 for the 200 freestyle win, ahead of Danica Ludlow (2:03.42) and Maia Brundage (2:05.04).

Ludlow was victorious in the 400 freestyle, finishing in 4:14.82, ahead of Lisa Kaunitz (4:21.92) and Courtney Tseng (4:22.61).

Keaton Blovad out touched Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson 2:14.36 to 2:14.40 for the win in the 200 backstroke. Mara Newman finished third in 2:17.98.

Markus Thormeyer and Curtis Klein led the men’s 200 backstroke by a large margin as the two touched in 2:03.19 and 2:04.77. Ben Settle swam a 2:08.15 for third. Thormeyer picked up another win in the 100 butterfly on day two. His 55.13 was a second faster than Nicolaas Dekker (56.04) and Van Mathias (56.35).

Thormeyer claimed a third event win as the only finisher under 4 minutes in the 400 free. He touched in 3:58.85. Jon McKay swam a 4:02.71 and Carson Olfason was third in 4:06.05. A 55.51 in the 100 backstroke brought Thormeyer’s victory total to four. Curtis Klein (59.05) and Sean Calkins (59.58) completed this podium.

James Dergousoff earned a fairly dominant victory in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:03.69. Jonathan Cook took second in 1:05.11 and Jaren LeFranc was third in 1:05.80. Dergousoff doubled up on breaststroke wins with a 2:18.55 200. This time, Ben Blackmon was second in 2:22.67 and LeFranc was again third with a 2:22.92. LeFranc came back to win the 50 in 3022. Ryder McGinnis (30.46) and Cook (30.63) were second and third.

Yuri Kisil was victorious in the men’s 200 freestyle, posting a 1:51.90. Olfason edged Stefan Milosevic 1:53.00 to 1:53.15 for second. Kisil later sprinted to a 25.47 to win the men’s 50 butterfly. Dekker (25.77) and Evan Carlson (25.78) were in a tight race for second. Kisil’s third victory came in the 50 freestyle when he stopped the clock in 22.99. Russell Wood (23.77) and Ben Berg (23.90) completed the podium. Kisil made it four for the weekend with a 50.16 100 freestyle. Olafson (51.39) and Milosevic (52.20) made their way onto the podium again.

Richard Weinberger raced to an 8:21.12 win in the men’s 800. Olafson was runner up in 8:25.69 while Hau-Li Fan completed the podium in 8:26.35. Weinberger took the distance double with a 15:39.73 in the 1500. McKay replicated his runner up finish from the 400 with a 15:51.91 here. Tim Woinoski was third in 16:24.74.

In the women’s 1500 Shelby Stene raced well ahead of the field, touching in 17:37.60. Miranda Andersen and Sophia Brunoro had a much closer race, finishing in 17:53.85 and 17:55.48, the only other swimmers to crack 18 minutes. In the 800, Harvey was first in 8:53.16, followed by Tseng (8:58.03) and Kaunitz (9:02.13).

Emma Carlton got her hands to the wall just before Samantha Corea in the 50 butterfly as the ladies touched in 27.64 and 27.67. Lizzy Cook was third with a 28.68. Corea led four swimmers under 30 in the 50 backstroke. She touched in 29.80 while Mackenzie Glover (29.85) and Laura Laderoute (29.88) finished second and third.

Russell Wood earned gold in the men’s 50 backstroke in 26.75, just .01 ahead of Calkins in 27.76. Chris Russ was third in 28.65.

Seltenreich-Hodgson swam a 2:15.04 to win the women’s 200 IM. Harvey (2:17.71) and Blovad (2:18.03) finished second and third. Seltenreich-Hodgson won again with a 26.52 second 50 freestyle. Emma Carlton and Lainey Visscher also cracked 27 seconds with times of 26.92 and 26.94. The sprinting prowess continued with Seltenreich-Hodgson’s winning 56.83 in teh 1–. In that race, Harvey was second in 57.34 and Kelsey Wog was third in 57.79.

Luke Reilly absolutely dominated the men’s 200 IM, stopping the clock in 2:06.66. Tristan Furnary swam a 2:11.23 for runner up honors and Jonathan Cook touched third in 2:12.96.

Georgia Kidd won the 200 fly in 2:18.87. Jacomie Strydom (2:19.78) and Kate Rendall (2:19.81) were second and third.

Blovad won the 100 backstroke in 1:01.94 while Mara Newman and Daphne Danyluk were second and third in 1:03.24 and 1:04.51.

2016 Mel Zajac Jr. International Live Results – Results

Name*

Email*

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