More medals for Team BC in the pool at the 2017 Canada Summer Games
It was another stellar performance for Team BC swimmers at the Pan Am Pool in Winnipeg Thursday evening.
Team BC won nine medals: two gold, five silver and two bronze, pushing BC’s total to 36 medals after four days of swimming at the 2017 Canada Summer Games.
Jesse Shade of Campbell River won his third gold medal on Thursday, smashing the Canada Games record in the 50m backstroke Special Olympics race by more than three seconds with a time of 30.81 seconds. “I’m just enjoying everything that’s going on here. I am thanking everyone. This wouldn’t happen without all the volunteers and their hours and hours of time,” said Shade. “Train hard and go hard and work hard,” added Shade, when describing what has contributed to his success in Winnipeg. He was joined on the podium by Cameron Chambers (Kamloops) who took silver in that race. That’s Chambers’ second silver of the Games.
It was a great night for Penticton swimmers. Tyler Wall of Penticton won silver in the men’s 200m backstroke and silver in men’s 4x50m medley relay with teammates Matthew Crawford (Richmond), Joshua Kim (Langley) and Thomas Kranjc (Tsawwassen). With these two medals, Wall now has seven this week in Winnipeg. “It’s been pretty fun. Tonight was one of my best races so far.” He added, “this is not like any other meet I’ve been to before.”
Acacia Benn of Penticton took gold in the women’s 200m backstroke. She was joined on the podium by Hana Edwards (Victoria) who won silver in that race — her first medal of the Games.
Other Team BC medallists in the pool on Thursday:
Hunsicker, Ariana (Surrey) 100m backstroke – silver
Schmidt, Michael (Victoria) 100m breaststroke – bronze
Dommann, Raben (North Vancouver) 200m freestyle – bronze
Quotes from Thursday evening session
SHADE, Jesse (Campbell River) – men’s 50m backstroke Special Olympics – gold
On being at the Canada Games with Para and able-bodied athletes
“I think it’s just like an amazing experience because all these people are coming together in one swimming meet and it’s just amazing to see all the provinces with all the athletes all competing in the same pool.”
CHAMBERS, Cam (Kamloops) – men’s 50m backstroke Special olympics – silver
“Well it felt really amazing. I was pushing harder. The crowd is really there for me. It feels excellent.”
DOMANN, Raben – men’s 200m freestyle – bronze
On racing shorter distances
“I find it tougher, because I like to get into a rhythm when I swim. I am a long lanky guy, so I sort of like the longer distances more. Short stuff is more fun.The goal tonight was just to get on the podium, so I was able to do it.”
On swimming with Para and Special Olympics athletes
“I love it so much. I’ve never trained with Special Olympics or Para athletes before. It’s really cool. Watching Jesse [Shade], Cam [Chambers] and all of them race, it’s so exciting. Every time I watch them race, I get so pumped up, for my next race. It’s incredible.”
BENN, Acacia (Penticton) – women’s 200m backstroke – gold
“It’s an amazing experience, especially to share with Hana. I am blown away about the result that happened. I just went for it.”
EDWARDS, Hana (Victoria) – women’s 200m backstroke – silver
“It’s super exciting. I paced the first 100 and then saw Acacia on the last 50, so I thought I had to go.”
CRAWFORD, Matthew (Richmond) 4x50m medley relay – silver
On his race
“That was very tough, mentally. I really needed to get my head around that. But overall, it was a very fun race. I am glad I experienced with these guys.”
SCHMIDT, Michael (Victoria) – 100m breaststroke – bronze
On his Canada Games experience
“It’s been some ups and downs. It’s been a lot of fun and I am super happy to be here and be on Team BC with the rest of the athletes. It’s a totally new experience It’s just so cool to gain this Canada Games experience so I can race more.”
On being at the Games with Para and Special Olympics athletes
“At my home club we don’t have any Para or Special O athletes. It’s been really cool to merge with them and have them on the team and talk with them.”