West Vancouver teenager Emily Overholt proved once again yesterday that no stage is too big for her, winning silver in women’s 200-metre freestyle swimming at the Pan Am Games in Toronto.
Overholt, a 17-year-old who just finished her Grade 12 year at Collingwood School, outraced all but Olympic champion Allison Schmitt in a world-class field in one of swimming’s glamour events. Schmitt of the U.S.A. won gold in a Pan Am Games record time of 1:56.23 while Overholt parlayed a blazing start into a comfortable second place finish in a personal best time of 1:57.55. Manuella Lyrio of Brazil was third in a time of 1:58.03.
“I tried to swim my own race, I just gave everything I had in my last 50 metres after I saw how close I was, and I am really happy with my results,” Overholt said in a Swimming Canada release. “It’s amazing to be (in front of) a home crowd, which I’ve never done before. Everyone cheering for you is an amazing feeling.”
Overholt is the youngest member of Canada’s red-hot swim team at the Pan Am Games but she already has a strong international resumé that includes a bronze medal at the 2013 World Junior Swimming Championships and a relay silver at last year’s Commonwealth Games.
Overholt will have a chance to double her Pan Am medal tally tonight as a member of Canada’s 4x200-m fresstyle relay team. The team, swimming without Overholt, qualified second in heats held earlier today, half a second behind the United States and more than 14 seconds ahead of third place Brazil. The 4x200-m final is scheduled for tonight at 5:38 p.m. Pacific time, 8:38 in Toronto.
