CALGARY – Madisen Jacques of New Westminster, B.C., won’t soon forget her first major national swimming competition. In her first event, she won the gold medal in the girls 13-14 age group 100-m butterfly on Thursday to open the Canadian Junior Swimming Championships.
‘’I was extremely nervous,’’ she admitted. ‘’Hopefully this breaks the ice because I have some pretty big events coming up that I would like to do well in especially the 200 fly which is one of my better events.’’
Jacques clocked one minute and 02.94 seconds with Élodie Mercure of Trois-Rivières, Que., second at 1:03.18 and Kamryn Cannings of Calgary third at 1:03.72.
In the same age group, Emma Finlin of Edmonton opened the first night of finals with a victory in the 800-m freestyle clocking 9:17.45. Delrae Vetter of Medicine Hat Alta., followed in 9:25.51 and Corinne Vézina of Longueuil, Que., was third in 9:27.77.
‘’My race went very successfully,’’ said Finlin. ‘’I have a busy schedule here with five races and I’m looking forward to the 1500 which is usually my best event.’’
Megan Drover-Smith of Whitby, Ont., was the other victor in the age group placing first in the 200-m backstroke in 2:16.01.
In the boys 14-15 age group, the winners were Justin Fotherby of Penticton, B.C., in the 800 free, Benjamin Loewen of Toronto in the 100-m fly and Carter Buck of London, Ont., in the 200-m back. Fotherby added a silver in the 100 fly and Loewen was second in the 200 back.
‘’I had a good warm-up and felt good in the event,’’ said Buck, who clocked 2:07.46. ‘’It wasn’t a personal best but it was still pretty good. I’m looking to get a personal best later on this week in the 100 back.’’
Two Pointe-Claire Swim Club members took gold in the the boys 16-18 age group. Eric Brown won the 800 free and Patrick Hussey was first in the 100 fly. Hugh McNeill of Langley, B.C., triumphed in the 200 back.
‘’I felt really good, I was well prepared,’’ said Brown, whose time was 8:18.88. ‘’Our team came last Friday so we could get use to the altitude and I’ve felt strong in training this week. I was really happy with that race.’’
The girls 15-17 division winners were Kenna Smallegange of Burlington, Ont., fifth at the FINA World Series open water swimming event this past weekend in Quebec, in the 800 free, Jeanne Dahmen of Pointe-Claire in the 100 fly and Regan Rathwell of Ottawa in the 200 back.
Edmonton Keyano won the mixed 4X100-m freestyle relay.
After day one Pointe-Claire leads the club standings with 285 points, University of Calgary is second at 172 and Edmonton Keyano third at 162.
Competition continues through to Monday at the Repsol Sport Centre.
Full results: Meet Results: 2019 Canadian Junior Championships
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