April, 06, 2008

MONTREAL – Valérie Grand’Maison of Montreal was jumping for joy following another record performance on Sunday in the Paralympic Games selection competition at the CN Swimming Trials.

Grand’Maison, a quintuple world champion in 2006, was one of 21 swimmers with a disability named to the squad for the Paralympic Games this September in Beijing.

In the women’s 50 freestyle, Grand’Maison, who competes in the S13 class for visually impaired, clocked 27.91 seconds to nip her previous national mark of 27.92 which had stood since 2002. In the multi disability standings, Anne Polinario of Montreal ranked first because she was closer to the world record.

‘’I wasn’t expecting to do this on the sixth day of competition,’’ said Grand’Maison who broke one world record, two Canadian records, a Pan American record and five personal best times in six races. ‘’I race to surprise myself and I did that this week. It was a super and a lot of fun. It’s looking really good for the Paralympics.’’

In the men’s 50 freestyle, Benoit Huot of Longueuil, Que., was ranked first in 25.32 followed by Donovan Tildesley of Vancouver and Brian Hill of Duncan, B.C.

‘’It was important for me to come here and swim fast,’’ said Huot, headed to his third Paralympics. ‘’This was the best possible visibility for us and the whole team is looking forward to a great Games. We are going to have a very dynamic team.’’

Nominated to the Paralympic team for the men were : Brian Hill of Duncan, B.C., Benoit Huot of Longueuil, Que., Donovan Tildesley of Vancouver, Drew Christensen of New Westminster, B.C., Devin Gotell of Antigonish, N.S., and Joe Barker of London, Ont.

For the women: Valérie Grand’Maison of Montreal, Chelsey Gotell of Antigonish, N.S., Stephanie Dixon of Victoria, Anne Polinario of Montreal, Kirby Cote of Winnipeg, Andrea Cole of London, Ont., Darda Sales of London, Brittany Gray of Barrie, Ont., Laura Jensen of Fort St. John, B.C., Jessica Tuomela of Waterloo, Ont., Brianna Nelson Victoria, Jacqueline Rennebohm of Regina, Stephanie McDougall of Maple Ridge, B.C., and Katarina Roxon of Cornerbrook, Nfld, Amber Thomas of Drayton Valley, AB.

‘’We’re going to Beijing to win medals,’’ said Craig McCord, the head coach of the Canadian Paralympic team. ‘’We also needed to look forward to 2012 and 2016 and we’ve achieved that with nine new Paralympians on the team. That bodes well for us down the road. Four years ago we only had two new swimmers.’’

McCord said the event was an enormous success.

‘’We had 60 swimmers with a disability in the competition which was amazing,’’ said McCord. ‘’The coaches across the country deserve a lot of credit. These are exceptional athletes and to be together with the able-bodied to showcase their talents was absolutely outstanding.’’

It was first time the Olympic and Paralympic selection meets were integrated.