Etobicoke Guardian

Etobicoke’s MacLean sisters both made waves during their Olympic debuts in the pool over the weekend.

Older sister Heather, 20, was first to dive in Saturday, July 28 as part of the Canadian women’s 4x100 metre freestyle relay team – her sole event at the London 2012 Summer Games.

With a time of 3:39.60, Heather and teammates Victoria Poon, Julia Wilkinson and Samantha Cheverton finished fifth in their heat and 11th overall, just three spots and 1.39 seconds shy of making the top eight and qualifying for the final.

Heather took to Twitter following her team’s elimination, thanking all her hometown fans in Etobicoke for cheering her on.

“Thank you for all the love and support from home!! The race was not what I hoped for, but an experience I will never forget,” she tweeted.

“I can now officially say I am an Olympian and am excited to cheer my heart out for the greatest team and country!”

And cheer she did, especially for younger sister Brittany, 18, who made her stunning Olympic debut on Sunday, July 29 during the women’s 400-metre freestyle event.

With a second-place time of 4:05.06 in her heat, Brittany broke the Canadian record by more than a second and qualified for the finals – a feat that earned the Etobicoke teen rave reviews on Twitter.

“Just watched my sister @b_maclean kill it!!!!!!!!” Heather tweeted shortly after her sister’s race. “The pride is overflowing!!”

Added two-time Olympian Alexa Komarnycky, a fellow Etobian: “@b_maclean is a ROCK star! So pumped to watch her tonight! Still remember when she used to look up to me! Now she’s MY idol.”

Brittany ultimately ended up coming in seventh place in the finals, with a time of 4:06.24, but her Olympic dream of reaching the podium isn’t over yet – she’ll race again in the 4x200 metre relay on Wednesday, Aug. 1.