Teenager Lauren Crisp of Reynolds secondary is off to a great start at the Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials in Toronto’s Pan Am Centre.
Sixteen-year-old Crisp posted a personal best in the prelims of the 100-metre backstroke on Day 2 (Wednesday) earning the last berth (20th place) in the B Final of the event. She then doubled down with her personal best of the day in the B final with a time of 1:02.74, placing second in her swim and 12th overall in the 100m back.
Crisp’s finals time set a new record for UVic Pacific Swimming Club members in 100m back record, and the Vancouver Island Regional and UVPCS 15 to 17 year old 100m back records.
On Sunday, Crisp swam to a lifetime best of 2:13.58 in the women’s 200m backstroke B Final, on the final night of competition. Her 13th place swim set a new UVPCS women’s open record for the 200m backstroke.
Crisp’s performances in the 100m backstroke and the 200m backstroke resulted in Crisp being named to the Canadian Junior National Team that will compete at the Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships at the end of August in Hawaii.
Saanich-based Canadian record holder Hilary Caldwell won the 200m backstroke and qualified for Rio in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:07.96.
“The time is good,” said Caldwell, who trains with Swimming Canada’s High Performance Centre program at Saanich Commonwealth Place. “I wanted to go a little faster the last 50 metres but I’m happy.”
Also earning recognition was UVPCS’ thirteen-year old Jessica Luo. She was selected on Sunday night to the Canadian Youth Relay team that will travel to Bermuda in May to train and compete against international competition.
Another UVPCS 16-year-old, Lucas Tyler, beat out 40 older swimmers in the men’s 200m fly field to clinch a spot in the lane with a time of 2:03.79. It was just 0.3 seconds off the UVPCS record held by Jon McKay. Tyler swam to 8th in the B final, 18th overall, with a time of 2:05.35.
McKay, a third year Vike, swam to a fifth place finish (15:35.23) in the men’s 1,500m freestyle, and was unable to meet the Olympic standard time.
Ryan Cochrane was the only Canadian to meet the 1,500m Olympic qualification standard (15:14.77), winning the event with a time of 15:00.75 seconds, not a personal best. The 1,500m silver medallist at the London 2012 Games is seeking the elusive Olympic gold in his
signature 1,500m event.
“Hopefully I can be that much better when I am pushed,” Cochrane said on Swimming Canada’s website. “When you get in the moment at the Olympics, I know it’s possible.”
Cochrane was also the only Canadian male to qualify for the 400m free, winning the event with a time of 3:48.54, under the Olympic standard of 3:50.44. His Island Swimming club teammates Peter Brothers and Jeremy Bagshaw missed the cutoff by less than a second, finishing second and third respectively.