CALGARY – Gabe Mastromatteo of Kenora, Ont., set a national record at the Canadian Age Group Championships on Friday, winning the 14-year-old boys' 100-metre breaststroke in one minute 4.09 seconds.
The decibel level at the Talisman Centre nearly went through the roof after Mastromatteo, who was one of the youngest competitors at the Canadian Olympic & Para-swimming Trials in April, touched the wall. The Kenora Swimming Sharks athlete lowered the mark by nearly a half-second. Matthew Huang's record of 1:04.53 had stood since 1999.
Mastromatteo, who is coached by Ryan Gurney, has broken a long-standing record. In the winter, he set an Ontario record in 200-m breaststroke at the Western Canada Championships, erasing a mark set in 1986.
“It felt really good to get a record – I've been working toward it all year and to finally get it is really nice,” Mastromatteo said. “The first thing I really did this season was I took it out really slow. I've kind of held back, but [Friday] it seemed to work when I took it out.”
A few minutes later, Elan Daley of Markham Aquatic Club set lowered the girls' 11-12 50-m freestyle record. In the girls 12-and-under race, Daley touched the wall in 27.07 seconds – only two-100ths short of the winning 13-year-old time.
“I feel really happy – I'm going to try to get more records,” Daley said. “I just prepared the same way I usually do and I guess I just tried a little harder. My coach told me to breath three times during the race, breath as little as possible.”
Two members of Canada's team for the Junior Pan Pacific Championships added to their collection of golds from this week golds. Faith Knelson of Ladysmith, B.C., posted a time of 1:10.65 in 14-year-old girls' 100-m breaststroke.
“This is a train-through meet, so it's a little hard in the physical department and somewhat in the mental department too,” Knelson said. “Just going into the races with confidence is helping. I'm really honoured to be part of the Junior Pan Pacifics team, but also nervous, being the youngest swimmer on the team. The past couple months have been hard, buckling down in practice. I'm sure it will pay off in Hawaii.”
Ajax, Ont., native Kayla Sanchez produced a winning 26.19-second 50-m freestyle in the 15-year-old girls' division. Sanchez had a tight turnaround after also finishing second in 100-m breaststroke earlier in the evening.
“It's good to be swimming so many races here, since it's unlike what I will do at Junior Pan Pacs, where I'll have one or two events plus maybe a relay,” Sanchez said. “Although I'm tired, this I good, because when I'm racing in my own age category, I can try different race plans.”
The Age Groups, which continue through Sunday, are being webcast at http://sportscanada.tv/blog/event/2016-swim-age-group/.
For full results: https://results.swimming.ca/2016_CAG/.
