In her first appearance at the 2019 Lima Pan American Games, Kyla Leibel had a day she’ll never forget.
The 17-year-old helped Canada earn bronze in the pool Tuesday, swimming one leg of the 4X100 metre freestyle.
As the second Canadian in the race, Leibel finished her swim in 57.25 seconds.
The University of Texas commit and her Canadian teammates finished less than a second behind Brazil who earned silver and just over a second behind the gold medal-winning American group.
Together we can do so much🇨🇦🙏#TeamCanada captured #Lima2019 4x100m freestyle BRONZE👏
— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) August 7, 2019
WATCH the @Lima2019Games LIVE at https://t.co/JASqUEqqST & the @cbcsports app🙌 pic.twitter.com/TdWyViwULQ
“It was great to see our swimmers show their toughness,” said Canadian swimming team leader Iain McDonald in a press release.
“They were in some tight races and they really fought hard coming back from outside podium positions to get their hands on a medal.”
Leibel will swim the 50m freestyle, her signature event on Friday in Lima, Peru. At 25.43 seconds, she has the sixth-fastest time heading into the heats.
PAN AMERICAN GAMES LIMA 2019
— RedDeerCatalina (@RedDeerCatalina) August 7, 2019
-BRONZE MEDAL - for Kyla and the canadian team.
Looking forward for her 50m individual. #reddeercatalinaswimclub #reddeer #reddeercity #reddeerkids #reddeerlearntoswim #learntoswim #reddeersport #reddeersportsclub pic.twitter.com/5Riw8lXySZ
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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