Records fall as Masse gets things started
With Canada boasting two 2016 Rio Olympic bronze medallists in the women’s backstroke — Kylie Masse of Windsor in the 100 metres and Hilary Caldwell of Victoria in the 200 metres — that stroke promised to be electric this week at the Canadian trials for the 2017 FINA world aquatics championships.
It certainly was Thursday night in a steamy and packed Saanich Commonwealth Place as Masse smashed her own Canadian record and finished the 100-metre final in 58.21, just .09 of a second off the world record held by Great Britain’s Gemma Spofforth. Masse’s clocking was faster than the 58.45 Katinka Hosszu of Hungary swam in winning Olympic gold last summer in Rio. It is the fastest time in the world this year, the fourth fastest in history.
Caldwell was second in 1:00.25 in her minority event to also qualify for the world championships in the 100 metres, something she is easily expected to do later in the meet in her 200-metre speciality.
“It’s nice to get the stress off early and qualify,” said Caldwell.
“The backstroke is our strongest event. Last year, we had two Olympic medallists in it. This year, maybe two world championship gold medallists.”
The top two in each event qualify for the worlds, as long as they clock under qualifying standard. The Island Club’s Caldwell finished in a tie for second with Dominic Bouchard. It was Caldwell who was awarded the second placing based on the tiebreaker, which is best time in the morning qualifying race.
“It’s nice to be swimming at home and have friends in the crowd,” said Caldwell.
Masse twice lowered her Canadian 100-metre record Thursday, starting with her 58.42 in the morning qualifiers. That broke the Canadian record of 58.66 she set in the medley relay of the Rio Olympics.
“Rio helped me believe,” said Masse.
Asked if she can go faster and eclipse the world record, she replied: “I hope so. That is every swimmer’s dream.”
It might have been Caldwell’s pool, but Masse used that to her advantage, too.
“I definitely heard it,” she said, of the din.
Claremont Grade 12 student Sarah Darcel pulled off a major surprise by taking bronze in the women's 200-metre breaststroke, which is not her major event.
“This was unexpected . . . I’m not a breaststroker by any means,” said Darcel, who clocked 2:27.74.
“This reassures me for [today in her main event, the 400-metre IM]. The goal [today] is definitely to make the team for the world championships.”
Darcel also talked about what a potent weapon is home-pool advantage. “I’m at home in familiar surroundings with people I know in the stands,” she said.
The top-two finishers — Kierra Smith of Kelowna (2:24.36) and Ashley McGregor of Quebec (2:25.32) — finished under the qualifying standard of 2:25.91 to stamp their tickets to Budapest in July.
The home pool, however, wasn’t as kind for Victoria’s Jeremy Bagshaw. He won the silver medal in the men’s 200-metre freestyle Thursday. But neither his time of 1:48.90 nor that of winner Markus Thormeyer of Richmond (1:48.33) was under the qualifying standard of 1:47.73.
“I’m not happy at all,” said Bagshaw, a graduate of SMUS and Pac-12 Cal-Berkeley, who still has chances in the 100 and his specialty 400-metre freestyle.
“I was hoping to make the team in the 200 metres. I was 1.5 seconds faster two years ago. I tried a different strategy and it didn’t pay off.”
Mackenzie Padington of the Island Swim Club gave it a good shot in the women’s 200-metre freestyle with a sixth-place finish in 1:59.73. It was a tough final and featured three of the swimmers who won the 4x200 freestyle relay bronze medal at the Rio Olympics.
Open-water Rio Olympian Stephanie Horner, a UVic grad who trains in Victoria, won the women’s 1,500 metres.
Teen prodigy Penny Oleksiak, who won a Canadian pool record four medals in the Rio Olympics, pulled out of the women’s 50-metre butterfly on Thursday. No reason was given. But it is a minor event, and all the 50-metre races here except for the freestyle, are none-selection events for the worlds.
Oleksiak will open today in the 100-metre freestyle, which is her gold-medal event from Rio.
Morning qualifying is at 10 a.m. and the evening finals at 6 p.m.