Sasseville Part Of Canada Versus USA Showdown

Local swimmer Genevieve Sasseville spent the last 10 days in Vancouver training as part of a Swimming Canada specialized relay camp. The 8-member female and 8-member male team was selected from the best junior swimmers from across Canada. After the intensive training camp, they went on to compete as Team Canada’s Youth team at the Mel Zajac International meet in Vancouver. The 56-year-old meet features top ranked swimmers from across the US, Canada, Australia and beyond who test out their mid-season racing skills before this summer’s championship season; some were using it as a competitive training ground for Worlds and World Juniors.

While all team members had their own events, there was a focus on the 4x 100 relay and the 4 x200 relay. At high stakes meets like this one, the relay team is chosen based on the best performance of team members and where coaches think they can achieve the greatest results. Even the order of the relay is strategically placed to try to gain that 1/100th of a second advantage over the competition. The coaches must have got the selection right because the Canada Youth Team took off.

On the first night of the competition the Canadian team lost gold to the American Junior National Team and won silver in the 4×100 freestyle relay, with Sasseville swimming the lead off leg. This sparked a fire in the girls who then came back the next night to win gold against the US in a very tight 4×200 relay, with Sasseville holding their early lead in the second lap.

Sasseville noted, “We were determined to beat the US and we did. It took all we had to do that. Plus, we had a lot of fun trying.”

The goal for many of the Junior swimmers was to make an A final in the open age category. Sasseville accomplished that goal and placed:

• 6th in the 100 fly with a time of 1:00:81
• 8th in the 200 free with a time of 2:05:24
• 9th in the 50 fly with a time of 27:73

Just back from Vancouver, Sasseville and fellow Pool Shark teammate Madison Broad, will be swimming as part of an 8-member Team Ontario Tour Team to Santa Clara California from June 3-10. The Santa Clara meet is part of the TYR pro series where times are tough to get in and even tougher to get to finals.