Day 5 Deaflympics Swimming Competition – Rookie Swimmers Continue to Perform with Personal Best Time

Team Canada rookies Jacob Blackburn (ON), Vedavati Ghanekar (ON) and Selena Zou (ON) continued to post personal best times in the pool at the 23rd Summer Deaflympics. Blackburn led the way taking almost 3 seconds off his previous best time in the 100 metre butterfly (1:10.87), while Ghanekar and Zou achieved personal bests in the 100 metre breastroke (1:39.22) and the 400 metre individual medley (5:55.17).

“This competition is extremely competitive“, said Deaf National Team Coach Judy Baker. “Our rookie swimmers are 10-12 years younger than the fully funded Eastern European athletes that are taking most of the medals in the pool.” Our young athletes are gaining valuable international experience and are swimming their hearts out for their country. I am so proud of Canada’s swimmers", concluded Baker.

Brandon Van Wyk also achieved a personal best in the 50 metre freestyle posting a time of 26.65.

Competition will conclude tomorrow in Samsun, Turkey.

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