LACROIX AND CAMERON JOIN CANADIAN GOLD MEDAL PARADE

SANTA CLARA, California - Kristy Cameron of Calgary and Audrey Lacroix of Montreal added their names to a long list of Canadian gold medal recipients this weekend on Sunday to conclude the 35th Santa Clara International swimming competition.

Jessica Deglau takes home two first place finishes from the Santa Clara competition (CP photo - Greg Kinch)

The Canadian team, most of whom are preparing for the Commonwealth Games July 25-August 4 in Manchester, England, looked very impressive with 12 gold medals this weekend including double gold by Calgary's Rick Say and Vancouver's Jessica Deglau. "Anytime you can come to what is the American hotbed of swimming and put up these kinds of performances it's very encouraging," said Canadian national team coach Tom Johnson of Vancouver.

On Saturday, in the men's 400-metre freestyle, Say, the 200 freestyle winner from Friday, led a Canadian medal sweep clocking 3:55.91. Brian Johns of Vancouver was second in 3:56.29 and Mark Johnston of Vancouver, who led up to the final 50-metres, took third in 3:56.85. In the women's 200 individual medley, Cameron overcame a one second deficit in the last 50 metres to win the gold in 2:19.38. Leah Avilla of the U.S., was second in 2:20.18 and Staciana Stitts of the U.S., third in 2:20.82.

Rick Say of Calgary

In the women's 200 butterfly, Lacroix upset Canadian record holder Jessica Deglau of Vancouver in the final clocking 2:13.21. Deglau, with two freestyle gold this weekend, followed in 2:14.43 and Margaret Hoelzer of the U.S., was third in 2:14.64.

"It's two seconds slower than my personal best but at this point in my training it's a good time," said Lacroix. "Winning was great but most important for me was to have a satisfying time."

There were also four Canadian silver medallists. Morgan Knabe of Calgary was second in the 200 breaststroke while Michel Boulianne of Montreal was fourth. Brian Johns of Vancouver took the silver in the men's 200 IM with Tobias Oriwol of Toronto eighth. Brent Hayden of Vancouver was second in the men's 100 freestyle with Rick Say of Calgary fifth. Taryn Lencoe of Vancouver was second in the women's 800 freestyle. Andrew Hurd of Toronto added a bronze in the men's 1,500 freestyle.

TEAM CANADA WINS BRONZE AT PAN AMERICAN CUP

Tijuana, Mexico ­ The National Women's Volleyball Team defeated Mexico yesterday evening to win the Bronze medal at the inaugural Pan American Cup. The tournament featured the top 8 ranked women's teams in North, Central, and South America (minus Brazil who withdrew at the last minute). Canada won the bronze medal match in straight sets with scores of 25-21, 25-22 and 25-16.

Janis Kelly (Winnipeg, MB) lead Team Canada with 12 points (10 kills, 2 aces, 1 block) while Rae Anne Mitchell (Prince George, BC) also had 12 points (8 kills, 4 blocks). Jenny Rauh (Vancouver, BC) added in 10 points (7 kills, 2 blocks, 1 ace).

"This was a very close game throughout and we stayed mentally tough and focused from start to finish," echoed Team Canada Head Coach Lorne Sawula. When reviewing the team's performance overall in the tournament Sawula stated "We played well enough to win and showed dominance against teams that are still improving in our zone, but when it came to playing the big powerful offensive teams we still need lots of experience and that's going to be very important for us to get in the next while."

Cuba finished first overall in the tournament with the Dominican Republic placing second.

Team Canada will now return home to Winnipeg where they will continue training until the 6th of July, after that they will take a two week rest and recovery period before reconvening to host the Dominican Republic for a series of matches from July 29th ­ August 8th.

DESPATIE SHOWS RANGE OF TALENT AT WORLD CUP

SEVILLE, Spain (CP) -- Alexandre Despatie of Laval, Que., known best for his success on the 10-metre tower, won the silver medal on the one-metre springboard Tuesday to open the FINA World Cup of diving.

The World Cup is the most important competition this season on the international diving calendar with no Olympics or world championships on the schedule. Xu Xiang of China took the gold medal with 421.80 points, the sixth straight World Cup China has won the event. Despatie, 17, followed at 407.79 and Jose Miguel Gil of Spain was third at 379.47. This is not Despatie's first springboard success at the international level. He swept the gold in the springboard events at the 1999 world junior championships and won gold on one-metre and silver on three-metre at the 2000 junior worlds. He also won two bronze medals on three-metres on the FINA Grand Prix circuit last year.

Alexandre Despatie is rewarded with a silver on the 1-metre springboard.

The medal continues Despatie's string of success in 2002. He has three Grand Prix victories this season on tower and captured five Canadian titles setting national records on all three boards.

COOK AND CLARK TEAM UP TO WIN WOMEN'S PAIRS AT CANADIAN ROWING TRIALS

LONDON, Ont. (CP) -- Jacqui Cook of Burlington, Ont. and Karen Clark of Delta, B.C. won the women's pair at the heavyweight women's Canadian rowing trials on Sunday. Cook and Clark clocked seven minutes 26.57 seconds to win, in the last chance to compete for spots in the women's 2002 national team selection camp.

"For us, it works when we go in with a focus on our race plan, and a good start was a main part of executing that plan," said Cook, who teamed up with Clark to win a bronze medal at the worlds last year. "The speed of the group has picked up and it forces us to be on our game."

Pauline Van Roessel of Bow Island, Alta. and Roslyn McLeod of Mississauga, Ont. were second in 7:37.05. Rachelle de Jong of Regina, Sask. and Dorota Urbaniak of Toronto were third in 7:44.42. Buffy Williams of St. Catharines, Ont. won the singles event in 8:07.86. Kubet Weston of Tillsonburg, Ont. was second in 8:10.60, followed by Jane Rumball of Fredericton in 8:14.84.

"I was happy with my race today," said Williams. "It was quite tight with Kubet and it's always fun racing like that."

GREEN WINS MEN'S NATIONAL RACQUETBALL TITLE

BROSSARD, Que. (CP) -- Top-seeded Michael Green of Hamilton cruised to a comfortable victory Saturday over Calgary's Brian Istace in the men's national racquetball final. Istace of Calgary was already selected to the men's singles team heading to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the World Championships in August. The 15-5, 15-6 victory guarantees Green a spot on the Canadian team.

Edmonton's Kane Waselenchuk, the top men's racquetball player in the country, did not compete in the tournament due to a severe hand injury.

Toronto's Corey Osborne defeated Vincent Gagnon of Longueuil, Que., 11-15, 15-13, 11-6 in the men's third-place match.

In the women's final, Jennifer Saunders of Winnipeg upset defending champion and top-seeded Josee Grand'Maitre of Longueuil 15-12, 15-4. The win also assures Saunders of a spot on the Canadian squad competing in the world championships. Lori-Jane Powell of Calgary defeated Chantal Turgeon of Rock Forest, Que., 6-15, 15-11, 11-8 in the women's third-place match.