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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, February 18, 2016 | 32 HALTON TRANSMISSION 559 SPEERS RD., #UNIT 3 905-842-0725 www.haltontransmission.com Kevin Nagel Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports "Connected to your Community" Gamal Assaad's coach Paul Midgley said the aim of his swimmer now is to `find the sweet spot' of how hard to push in the first 50 metres without it affecting the second 50. Gamal Assaad set an OUA record in the 100-metre breaststroke Saturday. He will be the No. 1 seed for the Canadian university championships later this month in Quebec City. |Swim Canada file photo Assaad sets OUA mark while training to qualify for Rio Olympics By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff Swimming is a sport of incremental gains -- weeks, months, sometimes years chasing fractions of a second. Rewards aren't always instant, but Gamal Assaad is starting to see the fruits of his labour. The third-year Western Mustangs swimmer established a record time on his way to a gold medal in the 100-metre butterfly at last Saturday's Ontario University Athletics swim championships in London. Assaad's time of 53.16 seconds broke the OUA record set by his former Oakville Aquatic Club teammate Zack Chetrat. "It's been step by step, meet by meet but I was really happy to do it in my home pool," Assaad said. "I've had some (club) records broken and it's always good to see the younger guys coming up and doing well. I haven't spoken to him yet, but I'm hoping Zack feels the same way." For Western coach Paul Midgley, the record was a positive sign given the OUA championship meet was not the focus of the season. The bigger goals are the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships in Quebec City at the end of the month and the Olympic trials in April when Assaad will look to earn a spot on the Canadian team head- ing to Rio de Janeiro this summer. To do so, he'll have to meet the Olympic standard of 52.30 seconds. (His long-course personal best is 53.42). That may seem like a huge leap given that Assaad's OUA swim trimmed .07 seconds off his personal best time set at last year's CIS championships. Despite Olympic trials being less than two months away, Midgley said it is attainable. "If it was just seven weeks starting from scratch, no way," he said, "but it's really been two years of working toward creating that performance and the wheels are just starting to turn so he's setting himself up for a chance." Assaad said representing Canada at the 2014 Commonwealth Games -- he reached the semifinals of both the 50m and 100m butterfly -- was a great opportunity to get exposure to an international multisport event. "Those experiences really show you how to be prepared," the 20-yearold said. "You try to learn from the older guys and take in as much as you can and try to implement different parts of that in your meets." And while Rio may be the ultimate goal, Assaad continues to work on perfecting the delicate balance that led to his OUA record in hopes there is still time to be gained. The engineering student said he has been working on a smoother, more controlled start so that he'll "have that little extra kick for the end." On the weekend, he cut three-quarters of a second off his second leg compared to his previous best at CIS last year. Now the aim, Midgley said, is "finding that sweet spot" of how hard to push in the first 50m without it affecting the second 50m. Assaad also earned a silver medal with Western's 4x100m medley relay, a bronze medal in the 200m butterfly at OUAs and set a personal best in the 200m freestyle, leading off Western's relay. He will head into the CIS championships as the top seed in the 100m butterfly, looking to break the 53-second mark for the first time. One more step toward his goal. Register Now Oakville Little League - 2016 Youth Baseball Registration Register Now Division Blastball Minor T-Ball Major T-Ball Minor Major Int / Junior Senior Big League Age 4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11-12 13-14 15-17 18-20 OAKVILLELITTLE LITTLELEAGUE LEAGUEFIELDHOUSE, FIELDHOUSE, 425Cornwall CornwallRoad Road WHERE: 425 WHERE:OAKVILLE WHEN: SATURDAY, 30th & February from 9:00AM to3:00 3:00PM WHEN: SATURDAY, January February 20th and 27th6th from 9:00 AM to PM Oakville Little League offers: The largest youth baseball organization in Oakville. The highest caliber, fun and fair-play house leagues. Grass infields, pitching mounds, outfield fences & dugouts for ages 9 & up. The only All-Star program to compete in Big League, Senior, Junior & Little League World Series Play downs. Fees include: Major League replica uniform, individual & team photos. Proud Sponsor of Oakville Little League For more information call 905-827-1831 or register online at www.ollb.org