The Global Swim Series had a very busy weekend last week that featured 3 Canadian races. All the races went smoothly despite some less than ideal weather at the 2 Ontario races. This weekend is our first weekend with no races of the series but next weekend in Ottawa we will have the renowned Bring on the Bay Swim, one of the largest races in Canada (this year looks to have a record number of participants as well).
So now onto the rankings. With 3 races held in Ontario this week we were able to see for the first time swimmers start to do more than one race. With the Mine Over Matter Swim in Hamilton on Saturday and the North Shore Challenge in Lake Erie on Sunday, some of our competitors took advantage of the geography and did back to back races last weekend. Notably Michael Kenny, Bud Seawright and Rhian Short all have now completed 3 GSS races and find themselves at the top of the standings.
In the Men’s Non-Wetsuit division Michael Kenny holds a lead over defending champion Bill Leonard thanks to an extra race (Caledon Quarry) where he was able to put up some important points early in the season. This could change next weekend with Bring on the Bay as Leonard is from the Ottawa area and should be in attendance. Chris Criswick finds himself in 3rd with 3 races.
Rhian Short’s perfect attendance in Ontario GSS races has allowed her to gain a hold of the top of the Female Non-Wetsuit divison (she’s also training for a Lake Ontario crossing at the end of summer so expect endurance vs speed to be her focus).
The Men’s Wetsuit division has already begun to get very competitive with Bud Seawright holding the lead in the Global Rankings over Trevor Connors and Gerry Kelly. GSS’s very own Dylan Kent sits in 4th with former open water world champion Greg Streppel sitting just behind in 5th.
Mairi MacGregor of Oakville, Canada holds a very small 4 point over Anne Wilkie lead to own the Female wetsuit division for now.
Full Leaderboard for Week 3:
Male Non-Wetsuit Division | ||||
Rank | Name | Age | Points | # of Races |
1 | Michael Kenny | 40-49 | 222.10 | 3 |
2 | William Leonard | 30-39 | 186.26 | 2 |
3 | Chris Criswick | 50-59 | 167.85 | 3 |
Female Non-Wetsuit Division | ||||
Rank | Name | Age | Points | # of Races |
1 | Rhian Short | 20-29 | 158.83 | 3 |
2 | Elissa Gelleny | 30-39 | 143.05 | 2 |
3 | Sarah Gallagher | 20-29 | 137.55 | 2 |
Male Wetsuit Division | ||||
Rank | Name | Age | Points | # of Races |
1 | Bud Seawright | 40-49 | 284.39 | 3 |
2 | Trevor Connors | 40-49 | 262.07 | 3 |
3 | Gerry Kelly | 50-59 | 240.22 | 3 |
Female Wetsuit Division | ||||
Rank | Name | Age | Points | # of Races |
1 | Mairi Macgregor | 50-59 | 163.64 | 2 |
2 | Anne Wilkie | 50-59 | 159.53 | 2 |
3 | Gabrielle Fredette | 30-39 | 118.84 | 2 |
Swimmer of the Week: This week’s honor is for Greg Streppel. Streppel is a former world champion and one of Canada’s best open water swimmers of all time. This past weekend Streppel took back to back wins at Mine Over Matter and then the RE7 North Shore Challenge less than 24 hours apart. Also of note was his blistering fast 3.8km win at the North Shore Challenge where he clocked a 45 minutes 3.8km swim despite rough waves the whole way. Streppel currently sits 5th in his division in the rankings and should be considered a serious contender for the GSS title.