Santo Condorelli wins 100m butterfly at Arena Pro Swim Series

Canada's Santo Condorelli swam a sub-53-second time to win the men's 100-metre butterfly final at the Arena Pro Swim Series in Charlotte, N.C.

The 21-year-old finished with a time of 52.53 in the final, beating his own mark set earlier on Friday during qualification and nearing the Canadian record.

Condorelli is also scheduled to race in the 50 freestyle preliminaries Saturday morning and in the 100 preliminaries on Sunday morning.

The Kenora, Ont. native finished ahead of Americans Tim Phillips (52.83) and Matt Josa (53.43) in the final race.

"I think I could have gotten the record if I hadn't taken an extra stroke at the end," Condorelli said.

"It was a satisfying race for me. I'm working on specific things at this event and trying to fine-tune my performances in preparing for the Olympics."

Condorelli earned his nomination to the Olympic team for Rio this August at last month's Canadian swim trials in Toronto, achieving the required 48.99 in the 100 free with a 48.16 effort.

On the rise

His rise in the pool began a year ago when Condorelli was the first Canadian to stop the clock under 49 seconds in the 100 free since world champion and 2012 London Olympic medallist Brent Hayden.

Last summer, Condorelli earned four medals at the Pan Am Games in Toronto and was fourth at the world championships in Kazan, Russia.

Looking ahead to Rio, he decided to take a year off from the grind of swimming at the University of Southern California. In November, Condorelli beat swim icon Michael Phelps by 0.41 seconds in the 100 fly for silver at the first stop on the U.S. Pro Swim Series in Minneapolis and last month picked up bronze in the 100 free at a Rio test event.

 Taylor Ruck, Kylie Masse and Penny Oleksiak all collected silver medals to round out Friday's tournament action.