Winsome-ish in Windsor: Canadian Nationals Race Report (Pool #797)

23 May 2026

Win-some-ish because I only won one race (100 fly) ... but I was actually most delighted with the race I got second place in (200 free) and the two (of three relays) I swam with my Canadian Masters team, the Burlington Masters Swim Club, at the very good Windsor International Aquatic & Training Centre (now pool #797):

But, I was most relieved that, after being too aggressive on my takeoff on the 200 mixed free relay at the end of the Friday session which resulted in our third place finish being nullified with a DQ, my teammates still welcomed me at dinner that evening and allowed me to swim another relay on Saturday morning!

This was a very short trip for me, given preparations and family commitments for my daughter Monica's wedding (on May 30th) back in Toronto. I had hoped to be able to swim the 200 free and 100 fly on Friday and then the 400 free Saturday morning, but there were so many enthusiastic mid-distance swimmers that I only managed to compete on our team's 400 Mixed Medley relay Saturday before I needed to get back on the road to the GTA. Given how strong my 200 free was (see below), I was bummed to miss the 400, but I'll find another time to race that rested this year.

I really wasn't quite sure how my results would be, given that I was out of the water for most of January and February with some health issues (e.g., here and another item still to be written about), and didn't return to consistent training until March 17th. Plus, we flew over from London on Tuesday evening the 19th, so I cannot say that I was over my jet lag by Friday morning's racing.

But, the pool was beautiful ...

.... the atmosphere was fun, and I got to connect with some friends, and start meeting some new swim friends from my future hometown in Burlington. Here's how the racing went:

200 Free

• Masters Best – 2:02.37 (2005, age 38)

• 50+ Best – 2:06.43 (May 2022, Canadian Masters Nationals)

• Result – 2:06.47 (second place)

• Reaction -

  • This was the main race I was gunning for and I was hoping to see how close I could get to that time from Quebec three years ago. I was delighted with the result, the feel of the swim, my execution of my race plan ... really ... just everything ...

    
    

• ... except, naturally, I would have appreciated going five-one-hundreths faster so it could have been an Age 50+ best time.

• Still, I've been hovering in the 2:08/9 range since moving to the UK and, excluding some sub 2:00 super-suited times, this is my fourth fastest swim ever as a Masters swimmer.

100 Fly

• Masters Best – 1:00.30 (2010, age 43)

• 50+ Best – 1:02.83 (December 2025, European Masters Champtionships)

• Result – 1:04.41

• Reaction -

  • As I had focused last fall exclusively on fast fly leading into the European Champsionships, I wasn't expecting to be as fast as then.

  • Like the 200, this race felt well-executed and I felt strong throughout, so I was happy with the time. Outside of my Lublin swim in December, I have to go back to 2015 to find races when I went faster.

Like every Canadian Masters event I've been to, this was run super-professionally.

• The pool was fast and there was enough warm-up/cool-down space in the diving well to do all the pre- & post-race stuff needed for fast racing.

• The event is not large enough to only race against your age group competitors, but what lacks in head-to-head age-based racing is made up by good head-to-head time-based racing.

• This facility lacks the grandeur of some of the showcase facilities in Canada, but it was a great place for a Nationals event.