Morningstar Breaks Canadian 100 Free Record at Speedo West Canadian Nationals

REGINA, Canada, February 18. ERICA Morningstar of Calgary, currently preparing for next month's World Championships, broke her Canadian record in the women's 100-meter freestyle on Saturday at the Speedo West Nationals short course swimming competition.

Morningstar, 17, clocked 53.21 seconds to eclipse her previous mark of 53.83 set at last year's West Nationals in Winnipeg. Elizabeth Collins of Vancouver was second in 56.40 and Brit Robson of Saskatoon third in 56.68.

"It was nice to break the record, that was goal tonight," said Morningstar. "I went out very strong and I just tried to work on my turns, which was something I needed to improve upon from the morning. This performance works well with my world championship preparation. Last year I came to the westerns and swam fast and then I went faster at the Commonwealth Games. That's my plan again this year for the worlds."

Other winners in women's competition were Jillian Tyler of Calgary in the 50 and 200 breaststrokes, Taylor Moore of Regina in the 200 backstroke and Courtenay Landsiedel of Langley, B.C., in the 200 butterfly.

In men's competition, Adam Sioui of Calgary continued to hold a hot hand with wins in the 100 freestyle in a personal best 49.61 and 200 butterfly. On Friday night he won four gold medals with personal bests in the 50 butterfly, 100 backstroke and 50 freestyle.

"I haven't swam this many events at a meet since I was a junior," said Sioui, 24, who'll be vying for a berth on the Pan Am Games team this summer. "I just moved to Calgary in May and it's been great. I've taken a more relaxed approach to my swimming knowing that I only have only a year or two to go in the sport. I'm not worrying about the things that don't go well and enjoying my successes."

Other winners in men's competition were: world team member Mike Brown of Calgary in the 50 and 200 breaststrokes and Derek Doerksen of Calgary in the 200 backstroke.

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