CALGARY – A tie for a gold medal in a 200-metre freestyle is always memorable, especially when one of the winners fights through like 18-year-old Ryan Kelly did at the Canadian Age Group Championships on Saturday night.

By his admission, the 18-year-old from the Markham Aquatic Club has not been in top form throughout the week at the Talisman Centre. In the boys 17-18 200-m freestyle, though, Kelly made up a quarter-second on National Longueuil’s Etienne Paquin-Foisy, as they both came in at one minute 53.75 seconds.

“I haven’t been feeling the greatest this meet, so I just made sure my stroke was on – that I could keep up with the stroke rate,” said Kelly, who will be moving south in September to swim for the University of West Virginia in the Big 12 conference. “I felt I if I could just hang on in the final 50 I would be able to get the win, and I did.

“There’s great competitors my age here, it’s a treat to face them,” added Kelly, who joined MAC after the closure of his club in Ajax. “It’s a boost of confidence knowing I can compete well and get ready for the rest of the season.”

The Age Groups and next week’s Canadian Senior Championships are trial runs for the teenagers who will represent Canada at the Aug. 24-27 Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Maui, Hawaii. Danielle Hanus of Newmarket, Ont.,, who is on the Junior Pan Pacs team, won a deep girls 17-18 100-m backstroke in an even 1:02, edging Ingrid Wilm (1:02.39, silver) from the hometown Cascade Swim Club.

“Swimming a lot of events at meets with a higher level of competition gives me more of a training base for seniors, especially since we’re swimming at a higher altitude (1,045 m above sea level) in Calgary,” Hanus said. “We’ll build back down when we go to Maui (for the Junior Pan Pacific) at sea level. It gives me confidence, knowing that with the times I’m going now, I can go faster later in the year.”

I haven’t been feeling the greatest this meet, so I just made sure my stroke was on – that I could keep up with the stroke rate. – Ryan Kelly

The Age Groups also offer an important exposure for preteen swimmers, who get to test their skills against peers from across the country. Stephanie Lee of the Pacific Sea Wolves continued to rack up golds in the girls 12-and-under flight, capturing 100-m backstroke (1:07.22) and 200-m freestyle (2:13.69).

“In many of the races I have done before, I have held back and been nervous, but this meet has shown me that I need to just go fast,” Lee, 12, said. “I’ve accomplished a lot of mini-goals. Going under a minute in the 100 free – 58.98 [on Wednesday] – that was a big goal.”

Calgary’s Cascade Swim Club had a 1-2 finish in 15-year-old boys’ 200-m freestyle. Alexander Katelnikoff, buoyed by a 27.28 opening lap, won the gold in 1:56.20 while teammate Isak Nash put down a silver-worthy 1:58.30.k

The Age Groups, which continue through Sunday, are being webcast at sportscanada.tv/blog/event/2016-swim-age-group/.

GIRLS 100-M BACKSTROKE
12 & UNDER
Gold: Stephanie Lee, PSW, 1:07.22
Silver: Jacqueline Buche, PCSC, 1:08.00
Bronze: Ella Varga, CASC, 1:09.32

13
Gold: Amanda McCallum, RAPID, 1:05.01
Silver: Brooklyn Douthwright, CVAC, 1:06.37
Bronze: Angelica Bath, CHENA, 1:06.62

14
Gold: Jade Hannah, HTAC, 1:03.24
Silver: Acacia Benn, KISU, 1:06.59
Bronze: Catherine Grimme, PSW, 1:07.74

15
Gold: Kayla Sanchez, MAC, 1:01.98
Silver: Madison Broad, CYPS, 1:03.64
Bronze: Maude Boily-Dufour, SR, 1:04.46

16-18
Gold: Danielle Hanus, NEW, 1:02.00
Silver: Ingrid Wilm, CASC, 1:02.39
Bronze: Danika Huizinga, MAC, 1:03.16

BOYS 100-M BACKSTROKE
13 & UNDER
Gold: Cole Pratt, CASC, 1:01.13
Silver: Tayden De Pol, RIPTIDES, 1:03.45
Bronze: Elijah Kliever, KISU, 1:04.50

14
Gold: Thomas Boyd, SLSC, 1:01.06
Silver: Canek Bracho, CW, 1:01.21
Bronze: Stephen Hou, CASC, 1:01.67

15
Gold: Tyler Wall, KISU, 59.29
Silver: Sebastian Somerset, CASC, 59.30
Bronze: Dylan Byers, GO, 1:00.03

16
Gold: Guillermo Cruz Zuniga, ANM, 58.73
Silver: Matthew Klahsen, CAJ, 59.02
Bronze: Sho Neilson, CASC, 59.07

17-18
Gold: Tim Zeng, CHENA, 57.41
Silver: Josiah Binnema, EKSC, 58.58
Bronze: Skyeler Kerr, INCONNU, 59.09

GIRLS 200-M BREASTSTROKE
12 & UNDER
Gold: Jade Lo, APEX, 2:48.56
Silver: Regan Rathwell, DRAGONS, 2:48.66
Bronze: Tilli Claggett, CASC, 2:50.90

13
Gold: Bailey Herbert, LOSC, 2:38.70
Silver: Serena Muizelaar, MSSAC, 2:43.36
Bronze: Pilar McCan, OSC, 2:43.50

14
Gold: Faith Knelson, LCSC, 2:35.12
Silver: Avery Wiseman, TRIT, 2:36.07
Bronze: Megan Deering, FSSC, 2:40.06

15
Gold: Elizabeth Moore, RDCSC, 2:37.55
Silver: Sarah Knott, EKSC, 2:38.05
Bronze: Rachael Anderson, CAJ, 2:38.90

16-18
Gold: Renae Ledoux, PSW, 2:35.24
Silver: Katrina Brathwaite, PCSC, 2:35.94
Bronze: Jordan Andrusak, UVPC, 2:38.03

BOYS 200-M BREASTSTROKE
13 & UNDER
Gold: Michael Schmidt, UVPC, 2:31.62
Silver: Brendan Fitzpatrick, UVPC, 2:33.33
Bronze: Ethan Jong, MAC, 2:33.90

14
Gold: Gabe Mastromatteo, KSS, 2:21.09
Silver: Joshua Kim, LOSC, 2:29.74
Bronze: Liam Rohatynsky, MANTA, 2:30.02

15
Gold: Owen Huang, MAC, 2:24.48
Silver: Finlay Knox, FSSC, 2:26.09
Bronze: Brodie Young, HYACK, 2:26.54

16
Gold: Joshua Young, RDCSC, 2:24.04
Silver: Eric Pelletier, PCSC, 2:26.63
Bronze: Jake Gu, MAC, 2:27.19

17-18
Gold: Frederik Kamminga, EKSC, 2:18.47
Silver: Ryan Telford, MAC, 2:18.80
Bronze: Jaren LeFranc, KISU, 2:22.88

GIRLS 200-M FREESTYLE
12 & UNDER
Gold: Stephanie Lee, PSW, 2:13.69
Silver: Kaitlyn Carpendale, CP, 2:15.62
Bronze: Ashley McMillan, KISU, 2:16.04

13
Gold: Brooklyn Douthwright, CVAC, 2:08.86
Silver: Amanda McCallum, RAPID, 2:10.33
Bronze: Nicoletta Panos, VPSC, 2:12.53

14
Gold: Jessica Luo, PCS, 2:06.77
Silver: Octavia Lau, HYACK, 2:07.34
Bronze: Kyla Leibel, RDCSC, 2:07.42

15
Gold: Kayla Sanchez, MAC, 2:05.29
Silver: Victoria Kwan, MAC, 2:06.73
Bronze: Martine Nyhof, COBRA, 2:07.85

16-18
Gold: Rebecca Smith, CASC, 2:02.61
Silver: Mary-Sophie Harvey, CNSJ, 2:03.49
Bronze: Megan Dalke, KCS, 2:04.02

BOYS 200-M FREESTYLE
13 & UNDER
Gold: Cole Pratt, CASC, 2:00.07
Silver: Jacob Gallant, FAST, 2:01.15
Bronze: Mathieu Cyr, UCSC, 2:02.18

14
Gold: Ethan Placek, WD, 1:58.70
Silver: Thomas Boyd, SLSC, 2:00.42
Bronze: Kier Przyswitt, EKSC, 2:00.82

15
Gold: Alexander Katelnikoff, CASC, 1:56.20
Silver: Isak Nash, CASC, 1:58.30
Bronze: Raben Dommann, CHENA, 1:58.91

16
Gold: Alexander Pratt, CASC, 1:54.97
Silver: Kristi Grillo, RAMAC, 1:56.41
Bronze: Connor Walker, MAC, 1:56.44

17-18
Gold: Ryan Kelly, MAC, 1:53.75
Gold: Etienne Paquin-Foisy, ELITE, 1:53.75
Bronze: Mackenzie Flowers, EKSC, 1:55.23

GIRLS 4×100-M FREESTYLE RELAY
12 & UNDER
Gold: University of Calgary Swim Club, 4:14.70
Silver: Markham Aquatic Club, 4:19.46
Bronze: Manta Swim Club, 4:19.80

13-14
Gold: UVic-Pacific Coast Swimming, 4:03.38
Silver: Pacific Sea Wolves, 4:04.50
Bronze: Pointe-Claire Swim Club, 4:05.40

15-18
Gold: Cascade Swim Club, 3:52.51
Silver: Markham Aquatic Club, 3:52.79
Bronze: Pointe-Claire Swim Club, 3:54.01

BOYS 4X100-M FREESTYLE RELAY
13 & UNDER
Gold: University of Calgary Swim Club, 3:53.24
Silver: UVic-Pacific Coast Swimming, 3:56.24
Bronze: Cascade Swim Club, 3:59.61

14-15
Gold: Cascade Swim Club, 3:38.45
Silver: Pointe-Claire Swim Club, 3:42.17
Bronze: Mississauga Aquatic Club, 3:42.81

16-18
Gold: Club Neptune St Jerome, 3:34.40
Silver: University of Calgary Swim Club, 3:34.52
Bronze: Edmonton Keyano Swim Club, 3:34.54

For full results: results.swimming.ca/2016_CAG/.