Nouvelles-sport canadien
June 2, 2007
Triple gold for Benoit Huot and Anne Polinario at Eurowaves 2007
BRNO, Czech Republic � Benoit Huot and Anne Polinario, both of Montreal, won three gold medals apiece on Saturday at the Eurowaves 2007 competition for swimmers with a disability.
Huot posted victories in the 200-metre individual medley, 100 butterfly and 400 freestyle and added a silver in the 50 freestyle in the S10 classification.
��I was faster in all four races than last weekend (at a meet in Germany) and that�s what I�m most pleased with,�� said Huot, a quintuple Paralympic champion in 2004. ��Plus the conditions weren�t what we are use to. My best swim was the 200 IM, and that�s the one I�ll be focusing for the Para Pan Am Games (in August).��
Polinario, also an S10 swimmer, was first in the women�s 50 freestyle, 200 IM and 400 freestyle.
Darda Geiger of London, Ont., added gold in the S9 400 freestyle and silver in the 50 freestyle, Donovan Tildesley of Vancouver took the S11 400 freestyle and was second in the 200 IM while Val�rie Grand�Maison of Montreal won the S13 100 butterfly and was second in the 50 freestyle, 200 IM and 400 freestyle.
In all three second place finishes, Grand�Maison finished behind 16-year-old Russian Oxana Savchenko.
��Oxana certainly showed she�s going to be a tough opponent for next year�s Paralympics,�� said Grand�Maison, who won five gold medals at the world championships last year. ��She did well at the world championships last year and she�s really improved. I was certainly pleased with my races and I know when fully prepared I can swim a lot faster.��
Chelsey Gotell of Antigonish, N.S., also an S13 swimmer was second in the 100 butterfly and third in the 200 IM and 400 freestyle.
Brad Sales of London added bronze medals in the S9 200 IM and 400 freestyle and Brian Hill of Montreal was third in the S13 100 fly.
Competition ends Sunday.