Mel Zajac Jr. International: Meet Records Galore Fall in First Morning Finals Session

VANCOUVER, Canada, May 23. THE first morning finals session came to a close at the Mel Zajac Jr. International meet with quite a few meet records falling to the wayside in this tune-up contest.

Ryan Cochrane walked away with the first title of the meet in the morning final format with a time of 7:56.31 in the men's 800 free. That performance was just five seconds off his Canadian record of 7:51.55 from March, and demolished his meet record of 8:00.09 set last year.

Kier Maitland secured silver in the distance event with a time of 8:26.05, while McClelland Lowry, 15, placed third in 8:37.76.

Showing the effects of morning finals, Julia Wilkinson barely clipped her meet record time set during prelims last night in the women's 200 back with a 2:12.75. This morning, Wilkinson stopped the clock in 2:12.70 as she led from the get-go. 15-year-old Lindsay Seemann finished second with a time of 2:15.66, while Tanya Hunks rounded out the top three in 2:18.71.

In the men's 200 back, Tobias Oriwol snatched the title in 2:01.24, while Charles Francis placed a distant second in 2:03.18. Matt Hawes claimed third-place honors in 2:03.85.

In an extremely close contest, national-record holder Annamay Pierse touched out Jillian Tyler, 1:09.24 to 1:09.34, to pocket the women's 100 breast crown. Taylor Peterson placed third behind the top two with a time of 1:11.33.

The breaststroke events proved to be some of the more exciting as another head-to-head battle came down to the finish in the men's race. Mike Brown surged past Mathieu Bois, 1:02.50 to 1:02.75, for the men's title after trailing 29.77 to 30.00 at the 50. Craig Calder completed the podium with a time of 1:03.66.

While already having a 1:56.60 to her credit this year from March – the second best in the world thus far, Bronte Barratt still put on a show in the women's 200 free at the meet. The Australian had no peer today with a time of 1:57.84, obliterating the meet record set by Kylie Palmer last night during prelims with a 2:00.82. Palmer, meanwhile, finished back in fourth with a 2:01.52.

Stephanie Horner dipped under the previous record with a time of 2:00.38 for second, while Erica Morningstar snagged third place in 2:00.76, also under Palmer's standard.

The close calls continued in the men's 200 free as only a half-a-second separated first from fifth.

Brian Johns won by the slimmest of margins with a time of 1:50.44 over Adam Sioui's 1:50.46. Leith Brodie picked up third in 1:50.50, while Brent Hayden (1:50.63) and Stefan Hirniak (1:50.92) rounded out the 1:50s.

Another long-standing meet record took a hit, this time in the women's 400 IM as Hunks turned in a time of 4:44.42 to clip the 4:44.93 set by Canadian-national record holder Joanne Malar in 1999. Alexa Komarnycky finished second in 4:51.40, while Ellen Fullerton took third in 4:52.79.

Keith Beavers followed in the men's 400 IM with a time of 4:20.27 to clear the meet record of 4:21.97 set by Tom Wilkens back in 2002. Brett Koerten finished second in 4:33.42, while Michael Cai placed third in 4:37.96.

In the sprint fly events, Kendra Chernoff won the women's 50 in 27.81, while MacKenzie Downing (28.20) and Audrey Lacroix (28.43) took second and third. Mitchell Patterson of Australia then broke the men's 50 meet record with a time of 24.51 after almost doing so with a 24.67 during prelims. Mike Mintenko had owned the previous record of 24.65 since 2003. Garth Kates of Australia (24.83) and Joe Bartoch (24.96) rounded out the top three.

Amy Xu, who competed last night during an earlier heat of the women's 1500 free, won the overall title in 17:24.51. Kathryn Rosberg secured second in 17:41.86, while Briana Meyer earned third in 17:46.42.

With budding superstar Cate Campbell, 15, leading off with a 56.38, Australia's team of Campbell, Barratt, Fullerton, 15, and Amelia Evatt-Davey set the meet record with a time of 3:47.23 to win the women's 400 free relay. The Canadian Olympic Team had previously owned the record with a 3:47.51 back in 2000.

Australia grabbed another relay triumph when the men's team of Leith Brodie, Matthew Abood, Patterson and Tom Miller stopped the clock in 3:21.29 in the 400 free relay. That performance eclipsed the previous meet record of 3:23.26 set in 2004.

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