Four members of the Prince George Barracudas have experienced Canadian swimming at its highest level.
Hannah Esopenko, Sava Yungman, Avery Movold and Haley Black competed at the Olympic trials, which concluded Sunday in Toronto. The meet was a qualifier for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and resulted in 27 athletes being named to Team Canada.
At the trials, Esopenko led the local contingent with a 34th-place finish in the 100-metre breaststroke. Her time - one minute 12.54 seconds - stood as a new Barracudas record in the girls 15- to 17-year-old age group. Esopenko also placed 40th in the 200m individual medley (2:24.54), 46th in the 200m breaststroke (2:40.60), 49th in the 200m butterfly (2:24.04) and 63rd in the 100m butterfly.
Yungman qualified for just one event at the Olympic trials but made the most of it. With a clocking of 2:07.86, he finished 47th in the 200m butterfly and set a new club record in the senior men's division.
Movold competed in four events at the trials and posted her best result in the 200m backstroke. In that discipline, she placed 37th in a time of 2:20.72. Movold - in the girls 15-17 category - also finished 42nd in the 50m freestyle. She was also in the pool for 100m freestyle and 800m freestyle races. Her time in the 100 free was 58.62 seconds and, in the 800, she touched the wall in 9:38.47.
In the senior women's division, Black swam the 100m butterfly and was 41st in a time of 1:02.83.
When Team Canada arrives in Rio, one of the stars will likely be 27-year-old Ryan Cochrane, who easily qualified for the Olympics in the 1,500m and 400m freestyle events. In the 1,500 free, Cochrane already has Olympic silver from 2012 and bronze from 2008.
