Music: {allcanada} RUSSELL, MORNINGSTAR BREAK CANADIAN RECORDS AT WORLD TRIALS

Sunday, April 3, 2011

{allcanada} RUSSELL, MORNINGSTAR BREAK CANADIAN RECORDS AT WORLD TRIALS

VICTORIA -- Sinead Russell of Oakville, Ont., and Erica Morningstar of Calgary broke Canadian records to cap the world swimming trials.

The UBC Dolpins added a national mark in the women's 4x100-metre medley relay Saturday night.

Morningstar won the women's 200 I.M. in a time of two minutes 11.23 seconds, to beat the previous record of 2:11.32 set by Julia Wilkinson last year. Wilkinson, from Stratford, Ont., was second in 2:12.89.

"I was a little unsure of myself the first few days of the meet," Morningstar said. "My prelims went well (Saturday) morning and I gained some confidence for the final. I knew with Julia it would be a close race because she is so strong in this event."

Russell won the women's 200 backstroke in 2:08.89 to eclipse the previous mark of 2:10.03 set by Lauren Lavigna in 2009.

"I was really glad to do well," Russell said. "It will really help me leading into the summer and give me even more motivation in training to swim even faster."

UBC's women's relay team of Lauren Lavigna, Haylee Johnson, Noemie Thomas and Heather MacLean posted a time of 4:05.89 to smash the previous Canadian record of 4:08.71 set by Etobicoke Swimming in 2009.

The trials determined the Canadian team for the 2011 FINA world championships this summer in Shanghai, China.