Katerine Savard celebrates her win in the women's 50m butterfly at the Canadian Swim Trials in Toronto on Sunday April 2, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
TORONTO – Sebastian Massabie apparently wasn’t satisfied with breaking three national records at the Canadian Swimming Championships, so on Sunday he turned to breaking world records.
On the second last day of competition at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, Massabie – of the South Surrey, B.C.-based Pacific Sea Wolves Swim Club – once again delivered.
The men’s 50-metre butterfly S4 world record was already Massabie’s, but he lowered his mark by 0.2 seconds with a 38.48 performance.
Staying true to his training, Massabie shaved another 0.46 seconds in the evening finals to lower his world record to 38.02.
Massabie has now lowered the previously 10-year-old mark four times this year.
Jordi Vilchez of the Barrie Trojan Swim Club won his fourth national title in the men’s 16 to 18 age group, displaying similar consistency.
In a very competitive age group, Vilchez has had to fight off strong competition from University of Calgary Swim Club’s Aiden Norman and Laon Kim.
“I think I’ve just really branched out to other strokes. I’ve widened my training to work on other distances,” said Vilchez when asked about his success. “I have been open to anything, whether it is a 50 or the 1,500-metre freestyle.”
Wins such as his 400-metre freestyle, where Vilchez was faster than any of the 19-and-over men, give him confidence for the future.
“I can’t wait to move up to the next age group and battle with some older guys because I know the field is looking pretty fast across the country,” said Vilchez. “I am sure that at trials next year that 400 free time will have me in a pretty good spot.”
Vilchez represented Canada at last year’s world junior championships in Netanya, Israel, and looks to make his first senior national team next year.
Another swimmer collecting medals at this year’s national championships is Ranumi Eashwarage from the University of Calgary Swim Club. The 14-year-old Eashwarage has won five gold medals, one silver and three bronze, with five of those nine coming from individual events.
Eashwarage will aim to secure more hardware on Monday as the Canadian Championships draw to a close.
Over in the women’s 100-metre butterfly, Olympic medallist Katerine Savard from Club de natation region de Quebec took home her third national title in the women’s 18-and-over age group.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2024.
