Brent Hayden of Mission, BC grabs silver in the Men’s 100 freestyle

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (October 15, 2011) – Erica Morningstar of Calgary earned her first international victory on Saturday winning the women’s 200-metre individual medley to open the second stop on the FINA World Cup swimming circuit.

win capped a three-medal day for Canada.  Brooklynn Snodgrass of Calgary collected her first World Cup medal placing second in the women’s 200 backstroke and Brent Hayden of Vancouver also took silver in the 100 freestyle.

Erica Morningstar	Brooklynn Snodgrass

Morningstar’s

Morningstar, a 2008 Olympian, clocked a personal best two minutes and 07.90 seconds less than a second off the Canadian short course record held by Julia Wilkinson of Stratford, Ont.  Izumi Kato of Japan took the silver in 2:08.46 and Hye Ra Choi of South Korea was third in 2:09.39.

‘’It’s a really good confidence builder going into the Olympic season,’’ said Morningstar.  ‘’I was definitely disappointed with how I did at the world championships (in July) after having some strong performances leading up.  So something I want to look at is how I taper for events. I feel I probably don’t need as much rest which is good.’’

In the men’s 100 freestyle, Stefan Nystrand of Sweden, the former world record holder, won the gold medal clocking 47.08 seconds.  Hayden, a five-time world championship medallist, followed in 47.27 and Matthew Abood of Australia took the bronze in 48.16.

‘’A big part of my Olympic preparations will be to compete more this season,’’ said Hayden.  ‘’Competing keeps me in a positive frame of mind and by design I have the training built up from last season which will allow me to race more. I’m really happy with my performance today and I’m really excited about the upcoming season.’’

In the women’s 200 backstroke, Belinda Hocking of Australia was the winner in the 2:05.76, Snodgrass followed in a personal best 2:08.47 and Sandra Hafstrom of Sweden was third in 2:08.68.

‘’I knew I was in a close battle for the silver and I really worked my underwater well on the last turn,’’ said Snodgrass.  ‘’It’s very exciting to get the medal.  All I was thinking about was getting a personal best.’’

Chantal Van Landeghem of Winnipeg took fourth spot in the 50 freestyle in her World Cup debut.

Other Canadian finalists were: Mike Brown of Calgary and Andrew Poznikoff of Burnaby, B.C., placing fifth and eighth respectively in the 200 breaststroke.  Poznikoff was also eighth in the 50 backstroke.