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From Gold Coast to gold medal for Mabel Zavaros at 2018 Speedo Eastern Nationals

News –

WINDSOR, Ont. – Commonwealth Games finalist Mabel Zavaros of Oakville, Ont., didn’t seem to be affected by jet lag on Saturday as she won the gold medal in the women’s 200-m backstroke at the 2018 Speedo Eastern Nationals swimming competition.

Zavaros, who arrived from Gold Coast, Australia on Thursday, clocked two minutes and 11.30 seconds. Madison Broad of Chatham, Ont., was second in 2:13.17 and Rosie Zavaros, Mabel’s twin sister, was third in 2:14.78.

‘’I felt it was important to come here and get some racing opportunities,’’ said Zavaros, sixth in the 200-m butterfly and eighth in the 100 fly at the Games. ‘’I need to work on the little things so I can go faster this summer. I really want to compete for Canada again later this year at the Pan Pacific Championships.’’

Other winners in the women’s 16 and over age group were Daphné Demer of Montreal in the 400-m freestyle, Aryanna Fernandes of Ajax, Ont., in the 100-m butterfly and Lili Chicoine of St. Lambert, Que., in the 50-m breaststroke.

Brooklyn Douthwright of Riverview, N.B., notched her third gold of the meet with a victory in the in the 400-m freestyle in the girls 13-15 age group. Also with wins were Geneviève Sasseville of Chatham, Ont., in the 100-m butterfly and Regan Rathwell of Ottawa in the 200-m backstroke.

Winners in the men’s 17 and over were Liam Desjarlais of Prévost, Que., in the 400-m freestyle, Emil Goin of Pointe-Claire, Que., in the 100-m butterfly, Alexander Milanovich of Etobicoke, Ont., in the 50-m breaststroke and William Marois of St-Eustache, Que., in the 200-m backstroke.

‘’It was pretty good but not as fast as I expected,’’ said Desjarlais. ‘’I came here just to get some good races and medals and it’s been going pretty well for me so far. Right now I’m working towards getting back to the shape I was a couple of years ago.’’

In the boys 14-16, winners were Antoine Cyr-Bouchard of Gatineau, Que., in the 400-m freestyle, Joshua Liendo of North York, Ont., in the 100-m butterfly and Graysen Bernard of Toronto in the 200-m backstroke.

In Para swimming, Danielle Dorris of Moncton and Gord Michie of St. Thomas, Ont., were the victors in the 100-m butterfly.

Michie lowered the Canadian record in the men’s S14 disability category clocking 1:01.31.

‘’I’ve had shoulder trouble lately so I was kind of worried about my race going in,’’ said Michie, a Canadian Paralympic team member in 2016. ‘’So I was really surprised to see that Canadian record time.’’

Competition ends Sunday.

Full results: https://results.swimming.ca/2018_Speedo_Eastern_Championships/