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73 | Friday A ugust 2 5 , 2 0 1 7 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | w w w .insidehalton.com Kevin Nagel, Oakville Beaver Sports Editor, knagel@burlingtonpost.com Sports "Connected to your Community " By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff Mack Darragh made the turn for the final 50 metres. What he later described as `a solid race' was actu ally much better than that. The outcome of the 200-metre butterfly at the Canadian swim ming championships wasn't in question -- Darragh would win by 3 1/2 seconds. Despite having the victory well in hand, the 23-year-old had just one thought in his mind -- get to the wall as fast as he could. Since he first broke the two-min ute mark (1:59.31) at the World Youth Championships in 2011, Darragh had been within striking distance of the Canadian record, which then stood at 1:57.01. "I think for a while I've thought it was possible," he said. "My coach es have been telling me I have it in me, it just had to come together." As he entered nationals in Mon treal earlier this month, Darragh's best time was still more than a second behind the record, since bettered by his former Oakville Aquatics Club (OAK) teammate Zack Chetrat on his way to a silver medal at the Pan Am Games. So when Darragh touched the wall, he wasn't thinking about a Canadian record. "It was kind of funny. I watched the tape later and at the end (of the Mack Darragh of the Oakville Aquatic Club set a national record in the 200-metre butterfly at this month's national championships in Mon treal. Darragh's time of 1:56.87 broke the mark of Oakville's Zack Chetrat, who established the previous record at the Pan Am Games. | Scott Grant - Swimming Canada race) I didn't really react," Darragh said. "It was hard to see the clock, so it was probably five or 10 sec onds before I saw my time." That time, 1:56.87, eclipsed Chetrat's Canadian record by 3/100ths of a second. "I've been hunting that record for a long time," Darragh said. "I set the 15-17 age group record, but I've always been chasing Zack. Fi nally getting that, and the FINA A standard, it's a dream come true." Darragh would add two more gold medals at the meet. He won the men's 200m individual medley and despite bumping into a lane rope on the backstroke, still man aged to set a personal best. "I'm just starting to develop and get better at it," he said. "I think I have a lot more potential. He earned his third gold as a member of OAK's 4x100m mixed medley relay -- his first relay vic tory at nationals. He also earned a bronze medal in the 100m butterfly and as part of OAK men's 4x100m medley relay to finish second in the men's high point standings. And while he achieved a major individual milestone, Darragh was also thrilled to contribute to OAK's third national title in five years. "I do swim a lot for that team aspect," he said. "When you can put some points together and score points for your team, it gets every one involved. It's a lot more fun that way." Darragh's performance puts him in good position to make the Ca nadian team for next year's Com monwealth Games in Queensland, Australia. He said competing at the Rio Olympics was inspiring and his goal is to make the Canadian team for Tokyo in 2020. This time he'd like to simplify the process. Darragh won his race at the last Olympic trials, but didn't meet the A standard. As a result, he had to wait several weeks before finding out he was on the team. "The Olympics were an awe some experience, but I never really got that chance to celebrate mak ing the team," he said. This time around, he intends to leave no doubt. · More OAK results from Canadi ans on page 74 Future Olympian? Find out at RBC Training Ground in Milton on Sept. 9 Think you've got big-time athletic potential? The Canadian Olympic Commit tee (COC) will be the judge of that when it pays a visit to Milton on Saturday, Sept. 9. That's when the Mattamy Na tional Cycling Centre hosts the RBC Training Ground, a program which gives local athletes -- no matter what sport they are in volved in -- the chance to test their strength, speed and endurance in front of officials from 11 Olympic sports, and potentially earn `Future Olympian' funding. The Milton event is one of 26 re gional combines being held across the country this year, with top Ontar io performers advancing to the provincial final at Scarborough's Pan Am Sports Centre on Saturday, Oct. 14. In addition to training support from a national sport organization the athlete may not have consid ered, top performers also earn fi nancial support from RBC and a trip to the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea to ex perience an Olympics first-hand. Halton-area athletes from the ages of 14-25 are invited to sign up at rbctrainingground.ca. Officials from sports such as cy cling, rugby, rowing, track and field, judo and triathlon will be on hand. In 2016 -- the first year for the program -- 25 athletes were identi fied with Olympic potential and they are now pursuing those dreams. At an earlier Train ing Ground, the team motivates a competitor to push her limits. Potential Olympians in this area have the chance when the Training Ground comes to Milton on Sept. 9. | Photo courtesy RBC Training Ground