VICTORIA – Martha McCabe of Toronto posted the fastest qualifying time in the women’s 200-metre breaststroke preliminaries on Saturday at the Swimming Canada World Championships Trials swimming competition.
McCabe, a finalist in the event at the last two FINA World Championships – including a bronze medal performance in 2011 – can add her name to the 2013 squad in tonight’s final with a victory. So far 29 swimmers have earned their ticket for this year’s worlds in Barcelona July 19 to Aug. 4.
McCabe clocked 2: 27.65 seconds followed by Ashley McGregor of Pointe-Claire, Que., in 2:29.17 and Tera Van Beilen of Oakville, Ont., in 2:30.78.
The other top finishers in the women’s prelim races were Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson of Ottawa in the 200-m individual medley and Chantal van Landeghem of Winnipeg in the 50-m freestyle. Both swimmers are looking to qualify for a second event at the worlds.
On the men’s side, the fastest qualifiers were Olympian Andrew Ford of Guelph Ont., in the 200-m IM, Chris Manning of Brantford, Ont., in the 50-m freestyle and Ashton Baumann of Ottawa in the 200-m breaststroke.
The top-eight advanced to tonight’s finals, which start at 6 p.m. Pacific.
Fans wishing to follow online can watch all sessions via live webcast here. Live results will be posted here.