BRONZE!

Another medal performance by the men’s 4x200 freestyle relay last night doubled our medal total. That’s right, we’ve got TWO! It was very exciting as each team member stepped up and put up a great swim. Andrew Hurd anchored and held on to a fast approaching British team to clinch the bronze medal. There was some definite concern from us watching in the stands (“I couldn’t watch – I had my hand covering my eyes!” said Audrey Lacroix) as the Aussies and Brits were reeling in Andrew. But he used his endurance on that final lap and came through. Thank god for distance swimmers! That relay is looking like a real medal threat for the Olympics.

This morning I swam my final race by leading off the backstroke leg for the 4x100 medley relay. We didn’t bring a female breaststroker to the meet, so we had Erica Morningstar fill that spot. She was our secret weapon. So secret in fact that even we had no idea how fast she could go. We pulled off a big swim as we were hoping to go under 4:10, and ended up with a 4:06. I took almost a second off of my 100 back race swim (and finally redeemed myself, a little). Erica was a super-stud and swam a 1:09.2. Not bad for a non-breaststroker! And Mackenzie and Julia both finished off the meet in style with great splits. We needed to finish top 12 to qualify Canada a relay spot at next years Olympics, and what do you know, we came 11th! What a relief. So far all our relays have finished top 12 and secured Olympic spots. The men’s 4x100 medley is tomorrow, and hopefully they can continue the streak.

All in all, this meet is officially the worlds fastest swim meet. EVER. And the Canadian team has come through with lots of second swims and two medals, so far. It’s been one of the most fun trips I’ve ever been on, and that’s saying a lot, as I may have been around for a really long time…