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MONTREAL, Canada, March 31. WHILE most of the swimmers throughout the night were fighting for a FINA B cut, Tera Van Beilen and Martha McCabe put on a show in the women's 200 breast with two of the top five times in the world this year.
Men's 100 fly
Joe Bartoch, the Canadian record holder with a 52.28 from 2008, raced his way into provisional qualification in the event with a FINA B cut of 53.01. That swim missed the A cut of 52.36, but was more than enough to best the 54.19 B cut. Bartoch is now in line for his second Olympic appearance, after swimming in the 2008 Beijing Games in this event as well.
Kourosh Ahani took second in 54.08, also under the B cut, but not enough to dethrone Bartoch in the event. Stefan Hirniak claimed third in the event with a 54.30. Jake Tapp (54.37), Zack Chetrat (54.47), Joshua Au (55.29), Edward Liu (55.53) and Wil Wright (55.57) also competed in the finale.
Women's 100 free
Julia Wilkinson pocketed her third individual event at the 2012 London Olympics with a FINA B cut time of 54.73 for the win. She already earned spots on the team in the 100 back and the 200 IM. Victoria Poon (54.86), Heather MacLean (55.06) and Samantha Cheverton (55.24) put themselves in position to make the 400 free relay.
Sandrine Mainville (55.34), Erica Morningstar (55.44), Amanda Reason (55.53) and Jennifer Beckberger (55.70) finished fifth through eighth in the finale.
Men's 200 back
Canada nearly picked up two spots in the distance dorsal. Tobias Oriwol and Charles Francis, however, both missed the FINA A cut of 1:58.48 in an exciting finish that witnessed Oriwol (1:58.79) taking the provisional Olympic spot over Francis (1:58.90). The two jumped to 16th and 20th in the world with their swims. Oriwol returned to competitive swimming January 2010 after taking some time off after competing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Matt Hawes (2:00.29), Matthew Swanston (2:00.81), Matthew Myers (2:02.79), Chad Bobrosky (2:03.37), Graham Hawes (2:03.63) and Adam Best (2:04.27) finished third through eighth.
Women's 200 breast
Canada's breaststroke depth shined through as Tera Van Beilen (2:24.03) and Martha McCabe (2:24.81) shot through the FINA A cut time of 2:26.89. Those times vaulted Van Beilen and McCabe to second and third in the world, sandwiched by Americans Rebecca Soni (2:22.73) and Micah Lawrence (2:24.85). Van Beilen had already earned a spot on the team in the 100 breast earlier in the meet, while made her first Olympic squad.
Ashley McGregor took third in 2:26.56 for 14th in the world, while Kierra Smith finished fourth in 2:26.73 for 15th in the world. Annamay Pierse, the world record holder in the event with a 2:20.12 from 2009 during the techsuit era, missed the team with a fifth-place 2:27.14.
Jillian Tyler (2:27.57), Tianna Rissling (2:29.01) and Hanna Pierse (2:30.21) placed sixth through eighth during the championship heat.
Women's 800 free
Savannah King (8:30.79) and Alexa Komarnycky (8:33.32) both made the squad by besting the FINA A cut of 8:33.84. King cruised to 14th in the world rankings with the swim to earn her second Olympic appearance. Komarnycky, meanwhile, had to be excited after coming up just short in two other events earlier this meet.
Brittany MacLean (8:33.70), Bridget Coley (8:43.47), Heather Maitland (8:48.21), Sherry Liu (8:49.51), Zsofia Balazs (8:50.49) and Tyra Rooney (8:54.39) placed third through eighth.
MULTI-CLASS FINALS
Valerie Grand'Maison topped the women's 100 free S13 division with a 1:00.93, while Summer Mortimer clocked a 1:01.42 in the S10 division. Amber Thomas posted a 1:12.10 in the S11 division, while Morgan Bird turned in a 1:12.61 in the S8 division. Brianna Nelson led the S7 division with a 1:18.23.
Grand'Maison won another race, with a 1:25.33 to lead the women's 100 breast SB13 division. Jana Murphy posted a 1:28.15 to top the SB14 division, while Katarina Roxon clocked a 1:29.53 for the top SB9 time.
Benoit Huot won the men's 100 fly S10 division with a 59.21, while Brian Hills topped the S13 division in 1:02.70. Kyle McMahon won the men's 50 fly S7 division in 36.68, while Nik Tolgyesi posted a 39.74 to lead the S6 division.
