Oleksiak, Bouchard, Condorelli golden at U.S. Swim Series

CHARLOTTE, N.C. –Rio-bound Olympians Penny Oleksiak of Toronto, Santo Condorelli of Kenora, Ont., and Dominique Bouchard of North Bay, Ont., all won gold medals on Sunday to conclude the fifth stop on the U.S. Swim Series circuit.

Two Canadians reached the podium in both the men’s and women’s 100-m freestyles.

Condorelli dominated the men’s race winning in 48.41. Jimmy Feigen of the U.S. was second in 49.56 and Yuri Kisil of Calgary third in 49.60.

‘It (the final) was a lot better than my preliminaries,’’ said Condorelli, who ends the competition with four medals including three gold. ‘’Tonight I just went for it and it was just there. This is one of my main races for Rio and I’m really focusing on details and cues.’’

In the women’s 100-m freestyle, the 15-year-old Oleksiak clocked 53.41 just 0.1 seconds off her Canadian senior and world junior record set at the Olympic trials last month.  Chantal Van Landeghem of Winnipeg was second in 54.13 and Dana Vollmer of the U.S. third in 54.19.

“I’m excited with that race,” said Oleksiak, also a silver medallist this weekend in the 50-m and 100-m butterfly. “It’s great to compete against some of the best swimmers in the world. It’s a valuable experience. I really just focused on my own race, kept my head down and went as fast as I could.”

Sandrine Mainville of Montreal was fourth in 54.54 and Arizona-based Team Canada member Taylor Ruck eighth.

In the women’s 200-m backstroke, Bouchard took the gold in 2:09.14 with Americans Erin Voss second in 2:10.37 and Clara Smiddy third in 2:11.22. Kylie Masse of Toronto was fifth and Kennedy Goss of Toronto eighth.

‘I’ve been working a lot on the front end of my race and that paid off tonight,’’ said Bouchard. ‘’But it hurts a lot more at the end. I’m happy with the time it was just a bit off what I posted at trials. It bodes well for the rest of the summer.

Jason Block of Calgary added a silver in the men’s 50-m breaststroke in 27.64 with Richard Funk of Edmonton placing fourth in 28.15.

Rachel Nicol of Lethrbidge, Alta., was fourth in the women’s 50-m breaststroke and Markus Thormeyer of Delta, B.C., was eighth in the men’s 200-m backstroke.

Full results: http://arenaproswimcharlotte.com/results16/index.htm