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British Columbia claims double gold in relay events at Canada Games

2017 Canada Summer Games –

Winnipeg – Team British Columbia closed out the first day of competition with a statement in the 4×200-m freestyle relay events at the 2017 Canada Summer Games at the Pan Am Pool in Winnipeg.

In the girls 4×200-m freestyle relay, BC narrowly edged out Ontario with a time of 8:26.40 to claim gold. The race was tightly contested throughout but BC’s Jessica Luo had a great final swim to close the gap and eventually overtook the top spot on her way to the victory.

The boys 4×200-m freestyle added further excitement in day one’s final event. Tyler Wall of BC overcame a deficit of his own in the final leg to propel Team BC to its second relay gold medal in as many tries.

“The focus was to take off fast, to hold it through and bring it home, but we kind of fell back a little bit,” Wall said. “I knew we were a couple seconds behind so I just closed my eyes and went for it.”

Alberta’s Emma O’Croinin posted a personal best time of 17:19.31 to win the girls 1500-m freestyle in the very first event of the Games.

“Going into the event, I just wanted to get a good time and hopefully help Alberta get higher in the medal standings,” said O’Croinin. “It feels pretty good to be able to come out with a good time, so I’m really happy.”

When asked about the atmosphere at the Pan Am Pool today, she replied: “I didn’t know what to expect but when I finished the race it was really loud and the environment was crazy, it was so cool.”

Kenna Smallegange of Ontario swam a time of 17:38.29 to claim silver while Becky Dean of Saskatchewan completed the event in 17:42.90, taking the bronze medal.

Raben Dommann of British Columbia took home the gold medal in the boys 800-m freestyle. Dommann put up a personal best of his own in the process, finishing the race in 8:26.84. Second and third went to Saskatchewan’s Michael McGillivray (8:32.85) and Quebec’s Louis Bertrand (8:34.80).

In Para-swimming multi-class action, Ontario’s Angela Marina and Tyson Macdonald claimed gold in the girls and boys 200/400-m freestyle.

In the boys’ event, a tie for second between Benjamin Désilets and Nicolas Plamondon meant two silver medals were awarded to the Quebec teammates at the medal ceremony.

Miori Hénaults of Quebec finished second while Arianna Hunsicker came third in the girls’ event.

The Canada Summer Games continue through Saturday at the Pan Am Pool and are being webcast at HERE.

If you wish to attend the meet, you can purchase tickets HERE.

Full results from the first day of action are available online at the following LINK.