| July
27, 2008
Swimming Canada
Marni Oldershaw
gets Olympic inspiration en route to five gold
at age group nationals
CALGARY –
Marni Oldershaw of Oakville, Ont., earned her
fifth gold medal at the Age Group Nationals
swimming competition on Sunday winning the girls
400-metre individual medley in the age 13 class.
Oldershaw clocked five minutes and 10.40 seconds
for the victory more than eight seconds ahead
of her closest pursuer. This week she also won
the 200 IM, the 50 backstroke, 200 backstroke
and 200 butterfly.
"I felt I did pretty good this week, I
couldn’t have expected any better,"
said Oldershaw. "My 200 fly was my most
satisfying win. It wasn’t one of my better
events this years and it was great to see it
coming back."
Oldershaw’s cousin is Mark Oldershaw
who will race for Canada next month at the Olympics
in the canoe competition. Her grandfather was
also an Olympic paddler.
"It’s pretty inspirational for the
whole family to see Mark’s accomplishments,"
said Marni Oldershaw. "Just to see him
do so well actually gives me a lot of confidence.
We keep in contact through e-mails and family
gatherings. I also paddle but I’ve been
doing so well with swimming that it’s
pretty much taken over."
Oldershaw isn’t the only multiple champion
this week. Amanda McCormack of Kingston, Ont.,
earned her sixth gold in the 12 and under category
with a victory in her 400 IM. Jacqueline Keire
of Etobicoke, Ont., is also up to five gold
in the 13 age group after victories Sunday in
the 100 and 800 freestyles.
Sinead Russell of Oakville is also a quintuple
winner following her 400 IM win in the 15 age
group. In the 16-18 age group Bronwyn Pasloski
of Whitehorse collected her third gold winning
the 200 breaststroke.
On the men’s side, there are five double
gold medallists in the 17-18 age group including
Dominique Massie-Martel of Pointe-Claire, Que.,
and Zachary Somjen of Vancouver with victories
in the 100 freestyle and 200 breaststroke respectively
on Sunday.
In the boys 14 age group Connor Greenley of
Ajax, Ont., posted wins in the 50 butterfly
and 100 freestyle as did Mack Darragh of Oakville
in the 400 IM and 200 breaststroke. Both swimmers
stand at three individual gold. Matthew Grillo
of Pointe-Claire was also a double winner in
the 15 age group taking the 50 fly and 100 freestyle
to up his count to four gold.
Nicholas Sinclair of Victoria was the top swimmer
in the 16 age group with four gold earned in
the 200 IM, 50 backstroke, 200 butterfly and
100 backstroke, all won in the first two days
of competition.
"The 200 fly stood out for me," said
Sinclair. "It was a good race, a lot of
fun to swim and I did a personal best time as
well. I knew it was going to be close so it
was a race I really wanted to win."
Pointe-Claire leads the club standings followed
by Calgary’s Cascade Club and Etobicoke
Swimming.
Competition ends Monday with the five kilometre
open water race on Lake Chaparral in Calgary.
Full results at: https://www.swimming.ca/liveresults/08agnat/index.html
reprinted with permission
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