Canada Cup Swim Meet a Big Test For Talented Swimmers

     

This weekend Swim Team Head Coach Brad Hutton will travel with three athletes to the Canada Cup in Toronto at the Etobicoke Olympium Pool. The Canada Cup is the biggest national meet of the fall season with the fastest swimmers from across the country in attendance. The meet is usually the fastest short course meet in Canada but this year will be short course for preliminaries and long course for finals so that Canada's fastest swimmers will have a chance to prepare for long course swimming in the Olympic year. The top eight swimmers after preliminaries make the final and the next eight make consolation finals.

           

The Sea-Hawks co-captain, 22 year old David Forbes will be heading to the meet, Forbes swims with the Mount Pearl Marlins in the varsity off-season. Forbes will be joined by two members of the St John's Legends,16 year old Owen Daly and 19 year old Aaron Buckingham. All three athletes have already qualified for 2012 Olympic Trials which will be held March 27-April 1 at the Olympic Park Pool in Montreal.

     

     

In his first time attending the Toronto Canada Cup, Daly will be swimming the 50m and 100m distances of both Freestyle and Butterfly. He is the highest ranked swimmer 16 years of age and under in all four of his events based on his impressive racing at the Canadian Age Group Championships in July. His strongest event is the 100m Butterfly where he is ranked 5th overall out of the 90 fastest swimmers in Canada racing the event. Daly is ranked 10th in the 50m Freestyle, 12th in the 50m Butterfly and is just outside the top 16 in the 100m Freestyle.

       

Buckingham will be competing in his first meet as a senior national qualified swimmer. He is ranked just outside the top 16 in both the 50m Freestyle and the 100m Freestyle and will be aiming to move into the consolation finals in both events. Buckhingham's butterfly events have been improving and he looks to make big drops in both the 50m and 100m butterfly events.

     

Forbes will be competing at his fourth Canada Cup and should also be in the mix for finals in the 50m and 100m Butterfly and Freestyle events. Forbes has had one of his best years with early season performances and will be aiming to qualify for CIS Championships in all four of his events.

 

 

This meet is the first big test for swimmers across the country as the Olympic Trials get closer. This is the strongest group of National qualified swimmers that Newfoundland has had in a long time, There has never been three males that should race to second swims in the Toronto Canada Cup.