Meet Report
2009 Canadian Age Group Championships

July 2009

July 15 to 20, 2009, Swimming Canada hosted the Canadian Age Group Championships at Park Jean Drapeau in Montreal. The meet was host to clubs from all over Canada and also included three international teams. There were 193 teams participating in the six day event, with 1,563 athletes competing. Over 10,000 race entries were logged. Hosting a meet of this magnitude is no small feat, especially on the heels of hosting the Senior Nationals / World Championships Trials at the same venue the week before. Due to the sheer volume of swimmers, Swimming Canada made a last minute decision to start the meet one day early to allow for over 6+ hours of 1500 meter events to take place on the Wednesday afternoon and evening.

The meet was completed on Monday, July 20 with the 5 km open water competition in the Olympic Rowing Basin. On this day mother nature was kind to the swimmers as it was the only day that the sun shone consistently and brightly. On any other day during the completion, you would have to pack sun block, a parka and umbrella, to be prepared for the barrage of weather conditions!

Each day of the meet experienced a mixture of weather conditions which proved to be quite challenging for the swimmers. Regardless of the conditions, there was a lot of fast swimming.

For the open water competition, swimmers had to check in early for registration and mark ups. Each swimmer had to undergo a 'nail' check. If your fingernails were deemed too long, you were given nail clippers and were asked to cut your nails short. Swimmers were marked with their entry number on their caps, backside, shoulders, hands and legs.



Swimmers were sent off in one of three age group categories, starting first with the men and then with the women. The race course consisted of a double loop of the rowing basin for a total of 5km. It was an excellent venue for spectators, especially if you were in the mood for some cardio because you could run and jog along beside the racers and cheer them on as they raced the circuitous route

A Special Thank You to Olga

A special thank you goes out to Olga Macel, our NYAC chaperone par excellence! Olga was in Montreal for two consecutive weeks to support our athletes during both national competitions. Her dedication and continued support are always appreciated and valued by the NYAC team.

New NYAC Records

A number of NYAC club records were set at the meet. Both Nathaniel Hu and Alex Jin set records in the 50m Fly. Jin now holds the club record in the 11-12 category with a time of 32.01, while Hu holds the record in the 13-14 age group with a time of 30.20. The boys were not alone in setting butterfly records. Connie Yang also set a new club record in the 50m fly with a time of 30.24. She racked up personal best times in both the 100m Fly (6th in finals ) and 200m Fly (5th in finals).

In the 13-14 female category, Katie Martin bettered her own 50m Backstroke record with a time of 31.93.

Caitlin Hodge laid claim to three new records and bettered her own record in the 1500m free. At this meet alone she has rewritten the NYAC record book for the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m Freestyle events. Her most outstanding race was in the 400m Freestyle where she bettered the record held by Steph Richardson since 1991 by over 4 seconds. She also carved another 40 seconds off her previous record in the 1500m.

Our Medalists

Caitlin Hodge, girls age 14
Gold, Open Water 5km, 1h 03.56min
Silver, 200m Freestyle, 2:06.39
Silver, 400m Freestyle, 4:22.71
Silver, 800m Freestyle, 9:03.59

Kathryn Martin, girls age 14
Bronze, 200m Backstroke, 2:25.77

Alexander Hamilton, boys 13 years and younger
Silver, Open Water 5km, 1h 02.32min
Silver, 1500m Freestyle, 17:08.67
Silver, 200m Fly, 2:16.39
Bronze, 800m Freestyle, 9:10.95

Alexander Hamilton and Caitlin Hodge with their medals after the
open water competition of the 2009 Canadian Age Group Championships.