CANADIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP WRAPS
Jeremy Bagshaw made sure his latest appearance at the Canadian Swimming Championships would be his most memorable.
Competing for the seventh straight year in nationals, the Victoria, B.C., native had his best medal haul: Five gold and a bronze. He won all three individual events he entered — 400-metre, 200 and 100 freestyle — and was named the top male swimmer at the championships held at the Shaw Centre in Saskatoon this past week.
“I’m definitely pretty happy with my results,” the 22-year-old Bagshaw said. “I’ve won a couple of summer national titles in the 400 and 200 before. The 100 was a bit of surprise because I never really focus on the 100 freestyle. It’s a new event that I decided to do.”
His best event was the 400 free where his time of 3:51.55 was named the male swim of the meet. However, he was happiest with his team relay results.
“I love doing relays,” Bagshaw, a California Berkeley student, said. “It’s just fun swimming along with other guys because normally swimming is such an individual sport. It’s one of the few times in Canada where I can swim for a team.”
Noemie Thomas tied with Bagshaw for most individual gold medals. Thomas, an 18-year-old Richmond, B.C., native, swept all three women’s butterfly events, and added four relay medals: A gold, two silver and a bronze.
She was named the top female athlete and her 58.19 second time in the 100-metre fly was awarded the female swim of the meet. Her time would have been 16th fastest in the world last year.
One of the high points of the championship was when 14- year- old Mary Sophie-Harvey from Montreal blazed to a 4:50.79 performance in the women’s 400-metre individual medley. That is just 0.15 seconds off the Canadian record for her age group.
“I didn’t know what was the (record) time until someone told me you just missed it,” Harvey, who holds two other Canadian records, said. “I’m still happy with my time — it’s a best time.”
Many were heard to marvel throughout the week at the potential for Harvey, one of the youngest competitors at nationals.
“A young girl like that, to step up and swim that fast is really a bright and awesome shining light for Canadian swimming,” said Saskatoon Goldfins head coach Paul Armstrong. “She’s very much a phenom, she is pretty special and you don’t see that very often.”
There were two big highlights for 17-year-old Danica Ludlow who beat two different Olympians for gold in separate races.
Ludlow edged Savannah King by 1/100th of a second to win the women’s 400 freestyle. Later she beat Canadian Olympian Barbara Jardin by 0.31 seconds in the 200 free.
“This is actually my first meet where I’ve kind of come out on top,” Ludlow, a Prince George, B.C., native, said. “I’ve watched Savannah and Barbara the last couple years make all the teams. I’ve always looked up to both of them. My 200 and 400 this meet were definitely by far the biggest races that I’ve won.”
The Saskatoon Goldfins were represented by five swimmers who made it to six finals, in the first time nationals have been held in Saskatoon since 1990. Top result was put up by Drew Matthews with an eighthplace finish in the women’s 50-metre freestyle.
The success of nationals at the Shaw Centre would not have been possible without a recent $650,000 upgrade to the heating and ventilation system made by the City of Saskatoon. In the past, competitors and spectators at highly attended events had to deal with high humidity levels and unbearable levels of heat. Instead, cool air blanketed the Shaw Centre the entire week.
“The city stepped up to the plate. They spent the money. They did the retrofitting that needed to be done and the air quality in here is world class,” said Armstrong, who expects the upgrades will allow Saskatoon to host many more high-profile events more frequently.
For more national results see the Sports Report on Page C6.