Hamilton Swimmer Helps Canadian Women Haul in Gold

It was all gold today for Canadian women, including Hamilton swimmer Bridget Coley, at the four-country Nations Cup swimming competition in Pointe Claire, Que.

Coley, 18, won the 800-metre freestyle today, helping the Canadian women’s team to a gold-medal sweep. She will compete in the 400m freestyle Tuesday.

The Canadian women won all nine races today, while the men’s side added three golds. Canada is competing against France, Denmark and Brazil at the Malcolm Knox Aquatic Centre.

Coley was selected for the Nations Cup team after last week’s summer national championships, also in Pointe Claire, where she won gold in the 800m and silver in the 400m freestyle races.

She is the first national champion for the Hamilton Aquatic Club (HAC) in more than 10 years.

Nine HAC swimmers qualified for summer national championships, held July 21 to 24. Frank Despond, 20, bested his own club record in the 200m free and finished 10^th overall. Tristan Vowles, 20, also beat his own club record in the 200m breaststroke to finish in the top 10.

In her first year as HAC head coach, Carmen Escobar-Thorburn has also seen club swimmers named to Swim Canada’s identification team, the North America Challenge Cup and Swim Ontario training camps.

This week, about 12 HAC swimmers will travel to Montreal for age group nationals to be held July 27 to 31.