Finlay Knox Opens Mel Zajac International With Two Wins
Canadian Olympian Finlay Knox opened the Mel Zajac International with two wins on Friday night.
Knox went 1:01.64 to win the men’s 100 breaststroke by a wide margin. He also prevailed in the 50 butterfly with a time of 23.73 in the opening finals session of the meet hosted by the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
The meet, which runs through Sunday, features a smattering of Canadian mainstays as well a handful of international swimmers.
Among the big names is Kylie Masse. The 29-year-old Olympic medalist has stayed away from her primary backstroke events. She finished second in the 50 fly on Friday, her time of 27.06 seconds second to Israeli international Arielle Hayon’s 26.74. Masse was fourth in the 50 freestyle on Saturday in 26.15, an event won by Kamryn Meskill in 25.66. Masse did win the 50 backstroke in 27.47.
Cole Pratt won a duel over Blake Tierney in the men’s 200 backstroke, Pratt two tenths ahead in 2:01.33. Olympian Emma O’Croinin won the women’s 200 free in 2:00.78 and the 400 free in 4:18.76. Yuri Kisil capped Saturday’s session with a winning swim of 22.58 in the men’s 50 free.
Among the rising Canadian junior swimmers, Alexanne Lepage won Friday’s 100 breast by a big margin in 1:07.68. She also claimed the 200 individual medley on Saturday in 2:16.31 before returning to take home the 200 breast title in 2:29.29. Laon Kim claimed Friday’s 200 free in 1:49.59 and the 200 IM in 2:04.41.
Among the international set, Hayon picked up one win and then finished second in the 100 fly in 1:00.41 to Clare Watson’s 1:00.19. Uzbekistan international Ilia Sibirtsev won the 800 freestyle in 7:56.93 on Friday and the 400 free in 3:48.26. Israel’s Michael Laitarovsky bested Knox in the 50 back, going 25.77 to Knox’s 25.81 (Tierney was 25.65 in prelims but got DQed in the final.) Alexa McDevitt, a Washington native who’ll swim at Cal next year, was second to Lepage in the 200 IM.
