Solid start for Pan Am swimmers

Swimming Canada - TORONTO – Canadians advanced to finals in all six events as Pan American Games swimming competition got underway Tuesday at the Pan Am Aquatic Centre.

 

Several Canadians will be eyeing medals as the evening session gets underway at 7 p.m., including Audrey Lacroix in the women’s 200-m butterfly, Santo Condorelli in the men’s 100-m freestyle and both 4x100-m freestyle relays.

 

Lacroix and Condorelli both advanced through the morning with No. 2 seeds. Lacroix’s time of 2:10.33 trailed only American Katherine Mills (2:08.89).

 

“I think it was a good morning swim,” said the 15-year national team veteran from Pont-Rouge, Que. “I got myself into the final so I’m really confident about tonight. I can be a lot faster tonight.”

 

Condorelli, meanwhile, sits second in the men’s 100-m freestyle at 48.88. Yuri Kisil of the High Performance Centre – Vancouver tied for fourth-fastest in prelims at 49.07.

 

In the women’s 100-m freestyle, Winnipeg’s Chantal Van Landeghem advanced in third by matching her best time of 54.31, while Toronto’s Michelle Williams was sixth in 55.29.

 

“I had a big smile on my face coming out of the ready room onto the deck just hearing the Canadian fans cheering,” said Williams of the amped-up atmosphere at the pool where she trains as part of the High Performance Centre – Ontario. “It’s something that we don’t always get at a big international meet at home. It just adds big excitement to our race.”

 

Williams and Van Landeghem will join the 4x100-m freestyle relay teams tonight, as will Condorelli and Kisil.

 

“We want to win, we want to give the U.S. a run for their money,” Williams said.

 

The morning relay teams (Sandrine Mainville, Alyson Ackman, Katerine Savard and Dominique Bouchard; Markus Thormeyer, Karl Krug, Evan White, Stefan Milosevic) both advanced in second spot. The men combined for a time of 3:18.77 – the fastest for Canada since the London 2012 Olympics – while the women went 3:42.83.

 

Meanwhile, in men’s 200-m butterfly, both Alec Page of Victoria (4^th, 1:58.82) and Zack Chetrat of Oakville, Ont., (7^th, 1:59.39) advanced.

 

“It’s a solid start for the first of 10 sessions,” said Swimming Canada High Performance Director John Atkinson. “They all progressed. The relay teams and heats did exactly what they were required to do.”

 

Noemie Thomas was a late scratch from the women’s 200-m butterfly due to illness. She remains entered in Thursday’s 100-m fly, which is her focus event.