Women’s relay swims to silver
GLASGOW, Scotland – Canada won a swimming medal for the third straight day at the Commonwealth Games Saturday in Glasgow, Scotland.
The women’s 4x200-metre freestyle relay team of Sam Cheverton, Brittany MacLean, Alyson Ackman and Emily Overholt combined for a time of 7:51.67 to take the silver medal behind only Australia.
“We performed exactly the way we wanted to and it was four strong swims. You don’t see that always in a relay,” said MacLean, 20. “It’s great for every single one of us to stand up and have a swim that we’re happy with. I think altogether it couldn’t have gone better for us and we’re really excited.”
The relay entered the final with the fourth-fastest heat time at 8:10.45, then dropped nearly 19 seconds to charge to silver.
“We all knew that we had that in us,” said Cheverton, 25. “I think when we saw we were right in the race in the thick of things that pumped us all up too. That just propelled us to go even faster and to fight a little bit.”
Swimmers have won four of Canada’s medals so far at the Commonwealth Games, and just missed another when Kierra Smith tied for fourth in the women’s 200-m breaststroke.
“The thing I wanted most from this meet was a second swim so I was so happy to be there and I tried to enjoy it as much as I could,” said Smith, who swam a lifetime best 2:25.19 in the morning heats. “It gave me a lot of confidence to know that I can compete with the girls here and I could belong at a senior meet which is exciting for me.
“Now my goal is to make finals at (next month’s Pan Pacific Championships in Gold Coast, Australia) and hopefully get into the 2:24 zone. That’s definitely been a dream of mine for a while now so I think that would be a great way to end the summer,” the 20-year-old from Kelowna, B.C., added.
Martha McCabe of the Swimming Canada High Performance Centre – Ontario, the 2011 World Championships bronze medallist, came sixth at 2:25.46. It was the best time this year for the 24-year-old Torontonian, who is still working her way back from a stress fracture in her clavicle that caused her to miss weeks of training.
Richard Funk of Edmonton came sixth in the men’s 100-m breaststroke with a time of 1:00.75. In the women’s 100-m backstroke final, Sinead Russell came sixth at 1:00.27, while Calgary’s Brooklyn Snodgrass was eighth in 1:00.58. Victoria Poon of Montreal’s Piscines du Parc Olympique finished sixth in the women’s 50-m freestyle at 25.29.
In semifinal action, Montreal-based swimmers Katerine Savard (3rd, 26.31) and Sandrine Mainville (7th, 26.48) advanced to Sunday’s 50-m butterfly final. Calgary’s Russell Wood also moved on, qualifying seventh in the men’s 50-m backstroke at 25.29
“I’m really happy with that,” Wood said. “I had a really great start and just drove my stroke rate right down to the wall. It was a best time by four-tenths so that’s definitely what I’m looking for. I’m a contender with that time so I’m definitely looking forward to the final.”
Fellow Calgarian Yuri Kisil also moved on to a final, advancing in seventh in the men’s 100-m freestyle at 49.53.Complete results: http://results.glasgow2014.com/
