Island swimmers target more hardware
The Victoria Academy of Swimming/Island Swimming, which has already produced two medals for Canada at the 2013 FINA world aquatics championships, may be on the verge of a third.
Hilary Caldwell twice lowered the Canadian record in the women’s 200metre backstroke Friday, first in the preliminary qualifying round and then in the semifinals, to qualify second for today’s final behind Olympic champion Missy Franklin of the U.S.
Caldwell eclipsed Ontario swimmer Sinead Russell’s former national record of 2:08.04 by going 2:07.81 Friday morning to lop more than one second off her previous personal best. Caldwell then lowered her own Canadian record to 2:07.15 in the semifinals. Russell also qualified as the eighth swimmer for the final.
Victoria Academy/Island Swimming performers already have reached the podium twice at the 2013 worlds — Ryan Cochrane with the bronze medal in the men’s 800-metre freestyle and Eric Hedlin with a breakout silver medal in the men’s open-water 5K.
White Rock native Caldwell’s emergence on the world scene coincided with her move to the Victoria Academy, which has contributed six swimmers to the Canadian team for the world championships.
“It just snowballed from there,” said Caldwell, by phone from Barcelona, before her races.
“We have a great group of athletes [in Saanich Commonwealth Place] and we all push each other. It’s rolled through the next generation with [young Victoria Academy swimmers] Will Brothers and Eric Hedlin qualifying [for these world championships].”
Caldwell, among seven Victoria Academy/Island Swimming athletes who swam in the 2012 London Summer Olympics, attributes a training trip to Arizona this year as being crucial for the group.
“We trained a lot at altitude in Flagstaff and that’s really helped,” she said.
Whatever Caldwell did, it’s working. She was disappointed not to advance out of her Olympic qualifying race last year in London. Her rise from that to the world championship final in one year is nothing short of meteoric.
It’s even more amazing because Caldwell almost didn’t get to Barcelona after she failed to qualify in her specialty event, the 100-metre backstroke, and had to rally by qualifying in her lesser 200-metre backstroke event during the Canadian world championship trials held in her home Saanich Commonwealth pool in the spring.
“It’s my first international final,” she said in a statement after her Friday heroics in the 200 backstroke.
“I assume it will be pretty similar to [Friday] and I know the girls will go. I know I can go with them. My time is kind of right in the mix now. I’m just excited to race.”
In other Victoria Academy/Island Swimming results Friday at the worlds championships, Alexa Komarnycky placed 13th in the women’s 800-metre freestyle and fellow Olympian Alec Page finished 12th with the Canadian men’s 4x200-metre freestyle relay team.
Cochrane, two-time Olympic medallist in the men’s 1,500-metre freestyle, swims his signature event today in the qualifying rounds with the final set for Sunday.