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Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports 39 | Thursday, April 9, 2015 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" Oakville swimmers qualify for Pan Ams by Jon Kuiperij and Michael Gregory Oakville Beaver staff Three Oakville swimmers and another athlete who represents the Oakville Aquatic Club (OAK) will compete in this summer's Pan Am Games in Toronto. OAK alumni and Canadian national team members Zack Chetrat and Tera Van Beilen secured their Pan Am spots with silver-medal performances at last week's Team Canada Trials in Toronto. Evan White, who was the co-winner of the Big Ten freshman-of-the-year award this season with the University of Michigan and is still a member of OAK, also earned his Pan Am berth with a second-place effort. Dominique Bouchard, a North Bay native and grad student at the University of Missouri who represents OAK in competition, won both the women's 100-metre and 200m backstroke at trials. In addition to qualifying for Pan Ams, she earned a spot in this year's world championships. "We're exceptionally proud of the swimmers that made the team. That includes Tera and Zack, who came up through our system and represented our club for a number of years. We consider them extensions of our club, even though they now represent other clubs," said OAK head coach Sean Baker. "We like to see our members go off to university and continue to swim well and make teams, and we have current residential athletes making teams. Our goal is to continuously have wave after following wave of athletes competing for these teams, and we were pretty successful this time around." Chetrat's silver medal came in the men's 200m butterfly Saturday, when he reached the wall in a time of 1:59.15, 1.18 seconds faster than thirdplace finisher and former OAK teammate Mack Darragh. Chetrat had recently moved Zack Chetrat from downtown Toronto to Local Pan Am Games qualifier train in Scarborough at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, the site of the trials and this summer's competition. "It's really been a change and to be honest I was expecting more out of myself tonight," Chetrat said, who had led the Curt Harnett, Canada's chef de mission for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games, takes a selfie with members of the national swimming team behind him. Among the Canadian swimmers set to compete at Pan Ams are Oakville's Evan White (fifth from left, in middle row), Zack Chetrat (directly above Harnett's phone) and Tera Van Beilen (to the right of Chetrat) as well as Oakville Aquatic Club member Dominique Bouchard (not visible, kneeling behind Harnett). | photo by Michael Gregory -- Oakville Beaver I get the chance to swim in my home city come this summer. race leading into the final turn. "I thought I had more, but it's good. I'm on the team and I get the chance to swim in my home pool, in my home city come this summer, so I'm really excited about that opportunity." After coming within two one-hundredths of a second from qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics, Chetrat represented Canada at the 2013 world championships. He also swam for Canada at the World Universiade in both 2011 and 2013. Van Beilen, who finished ninth in the women's 100m breaststroke at the 2012 Olympics, claimed national silver in the 200m breaststroke (2:27.76) and added a bronze in the 100m distance, when the three medallists were separated by 0.27 seconds. Van Beilen, who now trains and resides in Vancouver, came into trials having recently recovered from strep throat and said she had been struggling with motivation. "About a month a month ago, I didn't even think I could get to Toronto and compete at this meet. I was kind of stuck in a bit of a rut; mentally, physically, I was just not excited about swimming," she said. A smiling Van Beilen said being named to the Canadian team gave her a renewed confidence in her abilities to compete against the best this summer. "I was proud of my swims if I made the team or not, so this is just an unexpected bonus and I'm ecstatic," she said. White was second at trials in the men's 200m individual medley with a time of 2:02.14, approximately half a second behind winner Luke Reilly. White's time was a bit slower than his personal best, costing him a chance to qualify for this year's worlds. "Last year was Evan's breakthrough, when he made the Pan Pacific team and won trials," said Baker. "The time (at this year's trials) wasn't as important as making the team. Now that he's made the Pan Am team, I think we can look forward to some really good things this summer." Bouchard, for whom Baker joked he is simply a "glorified cheerleader," won the women's 100m backstroke in a time of 1:00.20, also meeting the standard for the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia. see OAK's on p.40 daily specials MONday Gourmet Pizza $8.99 $0.69 per Extra Topping TUesday TALL CAN TUESDAYS Budweiser, Canadian, Coors Light WedNesday Home burger and fries and a domestic Pint Budweiser, Canadian, or Coors Light (no substitutions) $3.99 $14.98 THURsday ALL DAY Half Price wings wings. Dine in only. FisH FRiday 1 Piece $10.99 2 Piece $12.99 saTURday Margaritas and daiquiris Bottles of Corona and Dos Equis sUNd day ALL DAY D Caesars $6.00 1/2 pRiced appeTizeRs sUN - Wed aFTeR 6pM $4.99 379 Speers Road Oakville · 905-338-5458 · www.draftedsportsbar.com