News

July 27, 2017

2017 Deaflympics

News

Samsun, Turkey

Results

Recaps provided by Carolynn Osborn - Team Manager

Day 6

Team Canada had a great final day in the pool at the 23rd Deaflympics with representation in a final and more personal best times.  Joshua Baerg (BC) placed 8th in the 200 metre breastroke, just off his personal best with a time of 2:37.85.   Personal best times for Team Canada included swims from:

  • Jacob Blackburn (ON), in the 200 metre breastroke (2:46.92- 10 seconds off his previous personal best), and the 200 metre individual medley (2:32.11);
  • Vedavati Ghanekar (ON), in the 100 metre freestyle (1:16.16) and the 50 metre butterfly (44.64);
  • Damiano Panetta in the 200 metre individual medley (2:23.91);
  • Brandon Van Wyk in 200 metre individual medley (2:29.14); and
  • Selena Zou  in the 100 metre freestyle (1:07.26), the 200 metre backstroke (2:48.84) and the 50 metre butterfly (33.81)

“This was a great way to end the competition”, said Deaf National Team Coach Judy Baker.  “It has been a long week of competition and I am so pleased with Team Canada’s results in the pool.  Our athletes have performed admirably against incredible odds”, concluded Baker.

Day 5

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.

Day 4

Team Canada raced to a new Canadian record in the 4x100 metre mixed medley relay in the fourth day of competition at the 23rd Summer Deaflympics in Samsun, Turkey.  The team of Joshua Baerg (BC), Vedavati Ghanekar (ON), Brandon Van Wyk (ON) and Selena Zou (ON) placed 11th with a time of 4:50.81.  The men followed with an 8th place finish in the men’s 4x100 medley relay with a time of 4:25.10.  “It was an exciting day of relay racing for Team Canada”, said Deaf National Team Coach Judy Baker.  We are thrilled to see another Canadian record fall”, Baker added. 

Joshua Baerg (BC) and Selena Zou (ON) just missed making finals in the 50 metre breastroke (31.79) and the 200 metre butterfly (2:52.42) both finishing 9th.  Damiano Panetta (ON) and Brandon Van Wyk (ON) achieved personal bests in the 200 metre freestyle with times of 2:09.79 and 2:14.65 respectively.  Vedavati Ghanekar (ON) also achieved a personal best in the 50 metre backstroke (42.16). 

Day 3

Team Canada’s youngest member, Selena Zou (ON), lead the way on Day 3 in the pool with 2 personal best times in the 200 metre breastroke and the 200 metre individual medley.  Zou finished 12th in the breastroke with a time of 3:13.35, knocking close to 10 seconds off her previous personal best.  She then went on to knock 3 seconds off her personal best in the 200 medley with a time of 2:45.91.  “Zou is swimming against seasoned competitors twice her age and putting in great performances in the pool, said Deaf National Team Coach Judy Baker.  “I couldn’t be more pleased with her efforts at her first international competition”, noted Baker.

Joining Zou with personal bests were Damiano Panetta (ON) in the 100 metre freestyle (58.22) and the 50 metre butterfly (29.48), Vedavati Ghanekar (ON) in the 200 metre individual medley (3:17.42), Brandon Van Wyk (ON) in the 200 metre backstroke (2:32.21) and Jacob Blackburn (ON) in the 50 metre butterfly (31.46).

Competition resumes on July 24, 2017 and continues in Samsun, Turkey until July 26, 2017.

Day 2

Team Canada veterans Joshua Baerg (BC) and Damiano Panetta (ON) swam to 7th and 8th place finishes in the finals of the 100 metre breastroke and 400 metre individual medley in the second day of swimming competition at the 23rd Deaflympics.   Both swimmers recorded personal bests during the day with Baerg clocking in at 1:10.42 in the breastroke preliminaries and Panetta swimming a 5:11.04 in the medley finals, a full 11 seconds faster than his previous personal best.  Deaf National Team Coach Judy Baker, was thrilled to see her veterans step up for the competition.    “Josh and Damiano really put it together in the water today with some great swims”, said Baker.

Rookies Jacob Blackburn (ON), Selena Zou (ON) and Vedavati Ghanekar (ON) continued to rack up more personal best swims -   Blackburn in both the 400 metre individual medley (5:32.19 – 15th place) and the 100 metre breastroke (1:16.57 – 17th place), Zou in the 100 metre backstroke (1:18.21 – 18th place) and Ghanekar in the 50 metre freestyle (35.86) and the 100 metre backstroke (1:33.94 – 22nd place).  The youngest member of Team Canada at 13, Zou placed 17th in the 100 metre butterfly with a 1:14.13.

Day 1

The Deaf National Swimming Team opened the first day of Deaflympics competition in the pool with a new Canadian Record in the mixed 4X100 metre freestyle relay.  Joshua Baerg (BC), Damiano Panetta (ON), Selena Zou (ON) and Vedavati Ghanekar (ON) posted a time of 4:22.64.  Canada placed 13th in the relay, up 2 positions from their ranking going into the event.

Best times were also recorded for individual swims including:

  • Damaino Panetta (ON) who shaved close to 5 seconds off his best time in the 200 metre butterfly (2:35.92);
  • Selena Zou (ON) who swam a personal best of 10:34.82 in the 800 metre freestyle;
  • Vedavati Ghanekar (ON) who recorded a personal best of 2:51.25 in the 200 metre freestyle; and
  •  Jacob Blackburn (ON) who posted a 34.05 in the 50 metre backstroke, close to 3 seconds faster than his previous personal best. 

“I am extremely pleased with our results from this first day of competition, especially from our rookie swimmers”, said Deaf National Team Coach Judy Baker.  “This is the first time on the international stage for much of this team and they have performed beautifully in this new environment.”

Competition continues in Samsun, Turkey until July 26, 2017.