Quebec City's Katerine Savard won individual gold on Friday then helped Canada to victory in the women's relay at a U.S. Grand Prix event. FILE PHOTO: David Gray/ReutersReuters
Quebec City's Katerine Savard won individual gold on Friday then helped Canada to victory in the women's relay at a U.S. Grand Prix event.
Savard earned her victory in the women's 100 butterfly clocking 58.23 seconds. MacKenzie Downing of Whitehorse was fourth just a half second from the podium.
"It's a good time for this point in the season," said Savard, the Canadian record holder in the event. "The highlight for me was having a strong second length. Endurance has been a big part of my focus in training."
Canadians won eight of the 10 finals, swept the medals in two races and finished the night with 17 trips to the podium.
Victoria's Alexa Komarnycky took the women's 400 individual medley in four minutes 41.66 with Stephanie Horner of Victoria third in 4:44.91 and Marnie Oldershaw of Oakville, Ont., fourth.
"I wanted to go 4:40 but it was still a very encouraging swim," said Komarnycky. "I was focusing a lot on racing tactics."
Canada swept the women's 200 freestyle with Samantha Cheverton of Pointe-Claire, Que., first, Victoria's Julia Wilkinson second and Barbara Jardin of Montreal third. Toronto's Brittany MacLean was sixth and Komarnycky seventh.
It was also a sweep in the 100-metre breaststroke with Calgary's Jillian Tyler first, Tianna Risling of Medicine Hat, Alta., second and Ashley McGregor of Pointe-Claire third.
Calgary's Erica Morningstar was fourth and Mariya Chekanovych of Burnaby, B.C., sixth.
In the 4x100 freestyle relay, Canada B took the gold with Wilkinson, Savard, Komarnycky and Vancouver's Noemie Thomas. Canada A was second with Morningstar, Marie-Pier Ratelle of Trois-Rivieres, Que., Downing and Horner.
In men's competition, Victoria's Alec Page and Andrew Ford of Guelph, Ont., were 1-2 in the 400 IM. Will Brothers of Victoria was seventh.
"I'm pretty happy it was my best time while in training," said Page. "It's a really important result in my preparation for the trials."
In the 200 freestyle, Blake Worsley took the gold with Ryan Cochrane third and Stefan Hirniak fourth. All three are from Victoria.
Toronto's Tobias Oriwol was sixth.
In the men's 4x100 freestyle relay, Swim Ontario was first with Richard Hortness of London, Colin Russell of Oakville, Hassaan Abdel-Khalik of Toronto and Oriwol. Canada was second with Worsley, Ray Betuzzi of Calgary, Page and Hirniak.
The Canadian swimmers are preparing for the Olympic trials set for March 27 to April 1 in Montreal.