By David Gold

Summer Mortimer__April_1April 1 - Benoit Huot and Summer Mortimer (pictured) shone as Canada's leading Paralympic swimmers geared up for London 2012 at the national Paralympic swimming trials at the Olympic Park Sports Centre in Montreal.


Several records tumbled during the week at the venue, which was constructed for the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.

Eight times Paralympic gold medallist Huot beat Adam Rahier in the men's 100m backstroke with a time of 1min 01.53sec, with Donovan Tildesley in third place.

Huot (pictured below) also claimed victory in the men's 100m freestyle, where he equalled a personal best of 53.22sec, though teenager Nathan Stein was just 0.19 seconds behind.

Huot then beat a personal best time in the men's 400m freestyle with a time of 4:08.93, and praised the amount of talent on show this week.

"This is great for Para swimming in Canada," he said.

"It shows we have even more depth on the men's side.

"I was very happy with my swim.

"I'm surprised with my time.

"It shows that even when I'm training distance events such as the 400m freestyle it can still help my sprint."

Benoit Hout__April_1
Four time World Champion Mortimer came first in the women's 100m backstroke as she beat Aurélie Rivard and Brianna Nelson into second and third.

"My feet were hurting a lot more than usual," said Mortimer.

"But overall I'm satisfied.

"I'm part of the team and it was a good start.

"This is the biggest meet I've been to since the world championships and it is exciting."

Triple Paralympic Games gold medallist Valérie Grand-Maison (pictured below) also performed well at the trials, winning the 200m individual medley with a time of 2:32.59.

''I'm in the best shape of my life,'' said the S13 swimmer, who holds world records in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle disciplines.

She was disappointed with her time though, and added: ''Tonight I think I was a bit too anxious after waiting for four days.

"So I'm a bit disappointed to not meet my expectations.''

Valrie Grand-Maison_April_1
Amber Thomas swam a time of 5:19.34 in the women's 400m S11 freestyle to set a new national record, and was delighted with her performance.

"It was very good," said Thomas.

"My stroke overall has gotten better and I'm able to hold it for longer.

"It's an event for which I want to challenge the world record at the Paralympics."

Morgan Bird was also breaking records in the S8 category with a time of 5:26.17, while Michael Qing in the men's 200m freestyle broke another record with his time of 2:07.52.

In the S6 category Danial Murphy beat his own record with a 3:09.87 time.

Another notable performer was Kirstie Kasko, who swam 2:25.25 in the women's 200m freestyle breaking her previous record, set at the Parapan Games last year.

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