Nouvelles-sport canadien
June 3, 2007
Canadians dominate 100 freestyle finals at Eurowaves 2007
BRNO, Czech Republic � Benoit Huot and Anne Polinario of Montreal, Darda Geiger of London, Ont., and Donovan Tildesley of Vancouver all won their respective 100-metre freestyle finals on Sunday to conclude the Eurowaves 2007 competition for swimmers with a disability.
In the men�s S11 disability category 100 freestyle for visually impaired, Tildesley took the gold in 1:01.91 to beat arch rival Viktor Smyrnov of Ukraine second in 1:02.94. Konstantin Tychkov of Russia was third in 1:04.00.
��I was hoping to go under a minute,�� said Tildesley. ��It was the end of a long trip and to beat Smyrnov who defeated me in the 200 IM yesterday and at the Paralympic Games, was a nice accomplishment. I was also pleased with how I adapted to a different training and competitive environment here at this meet. I�ll be a stronger swimmer and a stronger person for it.��
Geiger also finished about one second ahead of her closest pursuer in the women�s S9 100 freestyle final clocking 1:07.65. Irina Grazhdanova of Russia was second in 1:08.98 and Amanda Drennan of Australia third in 1:11.14.
��I thought it was good and I felt strong throughout the race,�� said Geiger, 24, a two-time Paralympian. ��I adapted well to the different situations of this competition. It was a great to see some of the top competition I�ll face next year at the Paralympic Games. I definitely will be working a lot on my turns and starts which I felt were my weak points on this trip.��
Huot clocked 55.73 seconds in the men�s S10 division with Eduard Samarin of Russia second in 57.66 and Filip Coufal of the Czech Republic third in 57.85. Polinario won her women�s S10 race by more than four seconds.
In the women�s S13 100 freestyle final, Oxana Savchenko of Russia was the winner in 1:00.56 with Val�rie Grand�Maison of Montreal second in 1:01.28 and Chelsey Gotell of Antigonish, N.S., in third.
In other 100 freestyle finals, Brian Hill of Montreal was fifth in the S13 class and Brad Sales of London, Ont., sixth in the S9 class.
The competition ends a month-long European trip for national team head coach Craig McCord. He accompanied the junior team for meets in Belgium and England then the senior squad in Germany and here this weekend.
��It�s been a very positive experience for everybody,�� McCord said. ��We saw some emerging stars on the European scene and it�s really going to help us in our preparations for the Paralympic Games next year.��
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