Sydney Pickrem, of Halifax, swims in her heat of the women's 200m breaststroke during the world swimming short course championships in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022. ;Pickrem won gold for Canada in the 200-metre medley at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup event on Sunday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
ATHENS, Greece – Halifax’s Sydney Pickrem won gold for Canada in the 200-metre medley at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup event on Sunday.
The 26-year-old Pickrem finished in time of two minutes 9.67 seconds, 1.48 seconds ahead of American Torri Huske, Australian star Kaylee McKeown finished third.
For Pickrem, who won an Olympic bronze medal as part of Canada’s women’s 4x100m medley relay team at the Tokyo Games, perhaps the most significant triumph has been regaining her comfort and confidence in the pool.
In July, she had to withdraw from the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan due to personal reasons.
“A few months ago I had crippling anxiety and depression and that kept me out of swimming and kept me from doing the things that I love,” she said. “I am happy to be here and trying to do the best I can every day. I enjoy racing with these girls and getting back to having fun.”
Fellow Canadian Olympian Kylie Masse, of Windsor, Ont., won a bronze medal Sunday in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:10.77. McKeown won gold in the event in 2:06.02, while American Katie Grimes claimed silver in 2:08.01.
Canada won a total of six medals at the weekend competition with Masse and Calgary’s Ingrid Wilm each collecting two on Saturday.
Wilm won silver in the 50 backstroke with a time of 27.94, edging Masse by 0.01 seconds. Masse brought home silver in the 100 backstroke in 1:00.01, with Wilm taking the bronze in 1:00.57.
McKeown won gold in both events and set a World Cup record (57.63) in the 100.
The World Cup tour continues next week with the final stop in Budapest, Hungary.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2023.
