“It all began with a stacked field competing in the women’s 200m freestyle. In a highly contested race, the top three shuffled throughout the first three legs before Brittany MacLean took over the Canadian record pace that had been set at the midway mark by 15-year-old Taylor Ruck. In a frantic race to the wall, MacLean got there ahead of another 15-year-old, Penny Oleksiak, setting a new national record of 1:56.94 by taking 0.03 off Genevieve Saumur’s standard that had stood since the ‘suit era’ in 2009.”
“It was MacLean’s second record of the meet following her opening night victory in the 400m freestyle. She is also the top seed in the 800m freestyle, which has its final on Saturday. Oleksiak, finishing in 1:57.59, also earned a spot in a second Olympic event following her win in the 100m butterfly.”
I’m super excited,
said MacLean. That’s the way I love to swim. I swim this sport for the relationships, for the memories made, all that stuff. This week is so emotional with all these people. There’s dreams coming true and there’s dreams not coming true. So you gotta try and stay in your mind.
