VICTORIA — Brittany MacLean of Etobicoke, Ont., smashed the second longest-standing national women’s record on Saturday with a victory in the 800-m freestyle to highlight the last night of competition at the Canadian Swimming Trials.
MacLean clocked 8:24.91 seconds, eclipsing the previous mark of 8:27.59 set by Brittany Reimer of Victoria at the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montreal. MacLean and Tabitha Baumann of Ottawa – second in 8:32.37 – both went under the qualifying standard (the top-16 time at the FINA World Championships last year) to be nominated to the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific teams.
“I’ve done a lot of racing this year and I wasn’t sure how much my body would hold up,” said MacLean, 20, a triple champion this week. “I’m glad it did. To get the record is a huge accomplishment.”
Two-time Olympic medallist Ryan Cochrane of Victoria collected a third gold as well, winning the men’s 1,500-m freestyle – his main event – in 15:01.72, well under the qualifying standard.
“I wanted to come here and put up a fast time,” said Cochrane, looking to successfully defend his Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific titles this summer. “It’s not where I want to be yet.”
Cochrane won’t settle for less than gold this summer.
“I’m looking forward to the Commonwealth Games because it was a dream of mine to compete at those Games since I was five,” he said. “The Pan Pacs is a big event for the swimmers and the competition will be tough.”
Three Canadian women went under the qualifying standard in the 200-m individual medley. Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson of Ottawa completed a golden IM sweep clocking a personal best 2:12.26. Marni Oldershaw of Oakville, Ont., followed in 2:13.72 and Sydney Pickrem, a Canadian residing in Florida, was third in 2:13.78.
“I’m pretty pumped,” said Seltenreich-Hodgson, 18, now based at the Swimming Canada High Performance Centre – Vancouver. “To get two titles this week is really exciting. To have three girls go under the standard is something. We are an IM country.”
Evan White of Oakville just missed notching a Canadian record in the men’s 200-m IM but still went under the qualifying standard with a personal best 1:59.84. The 18-year-old was 0.3 seconds under the Canadian record before heading into the final freestyle length.
“I was trying to break the record and I could hear the crowd,” White said while catching his breath. “It was a good swim.”
In the women’s 200-m fly, Katerine Savard of Montreal’s Club CAMO surprised herself with a victory in 2:07.61 while Audrey Lacroix of Club de natation des Piscines du Parc Olympique de Montreal followed in 2:08.84. Both Pont-Rouge, Que., racers went under the qualifying standard as they did in the 100-m butterfly on Friday which featured a national record for Savard.
“I don’t really believe I did that time,” said Savard, 20. “It’s really good for me.”
Victoria Poon of Montreal was first in the 50-m freestyle for her second win of the competition.
Yuri Kisil of the Cascade Swim Club took the men’s 50-m freestyle in a personal best 22.53 for his second title this week.
Zack Chetrat of Oakville, Ont., won the men’s 200-m butterfly.