Prince George Barracudas swimmer Josiah Binnema found butterfly heaven at the Canadian national trials in Toronto.
He shattered his own personal record and won gold in his specialty, the 100-metre butterfly, touching the wall in 52.26 seconds, two-tenths of a second ahead of second-place Joshua Liendo of Toronto.
Binnema, a Cedars Christian school/University of Alberta graduate who trains in Vancouver at the High Performance Centre, came within 37/100ths of second of matching the Canadian record (51.83) set by Santo Condorelli in 2016.
Michael Phelps of the U.S. owns the world record (49.82) set in 2009.
The 21-year-old Binnema just missed the medal podium in two other events to the trials, finishing fourth in the 50m fly (24:41) and fourth in the 200 m fly (2:00.97). Swim Canada has named Binnema to the FINA world championship team that will compete July 21-28 in Gwangju, Korea.
Danica Ludlow of the Barracudas won bronze at the national trials in the 400m freestyle, finishing in a personal-best time of 4:10.86. She also placed fifth in the B-final of the 200m freestyle in 2:02.94. Ludlow is a third-year student at the University of Calgary.
Barracudas swimmer Haley Black, who won silver in the women's 50m fly on Wednesday, was a fourth-place finisher in the 100 fly on Friday, clocking a personal-best 59.06 which broke the Barracudas club record. Black also trains at the High Performance Centre in Vancouver.
Avery Movold of the Barracudas set new club records in the 100 backstroke (1:04.13, 34th),
200 freestyle (2:04.60, 26th - personal best) and broke the 'Cudas standard in the 200 backstroke preliminary round (2:17.02) while on her way to a 20th place finish in the 200 back finals (2:19.95).
Movold, a Prince George secondary school graduate, is in her freshman year at the University of Alron in Ohio.
Black and Ludlow have qualified for the Canadian team heading to Lima, Peru for the 2019 Pan American Games, August 4-10.
Several Barracudas swimmers will be in Edmonton this week for the Western Canadian long course championships. The 'Cudas will host the club's annual Moose Meet Invitational, April 26-28 at the Aquatic Centre.
