VANCOUVER - After an outstanding opening day of the 55th Annual Mel Zajac Jr. International Swim Meet, day two proved to be all the more thrilling inside a sold-out UBC Aquatic Centre.
 
"It's amazing when they announce my name and the crowd goes wild," admitted standout Thunderbird Markus Thormeyer. "Motivation comes easy with an infectious atmosphere."

??@caelebdressel is stealing the show here at #MelZajac Jr. breaking his second record of the evening & third of the meet so far. Finishing first in the men's 50M Freestyle in 22.15 @ubctbirds @Yuri_Kisil takes 2nd spot in 22.52 #GoBirdsGo @swimzajac pic.twitter.com/8RQU96DkVm

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) June 3, 2018

 
That atmosphere was palpable when Olympic bronze medalist, and former Thunderbird, Brent Hayden returned to the Point Grey campus to watch American standout Caeleb Dressel break his third Mel Zajac Jr. International record of the weekend in the 50 metre freestyle (22:15) - a record previously held by Hayden himself since 2009 (22:50). UBC's Yuri "the missile" Kisil finished in second place with a time of 22:52.


 
Earlier in evening, the reigning world champion Dressel set his second meet record in the 100 metre butterfly (52:45) during a star-studded race that saw Ryan Lochte finish 4th (53:71), UBC's Josiah Binnema 5th (53:97) and Markus Thormeyer 7th (54:63).


 
Lochte then asserted his world record speed in the 200 metre individual medley and set yet another new meet record, beating his previous meet record (2:00:15) from 2013, in 1:58:90.
 
"The training that I've done this year has been really good," admitted the American swimming legend. "I'm excited to see what I can do this year."


 
Penny Oleksiak's evening was highlighted by a victory in the 100 metre butterfly (59:12) - an event in which she holds the Canadian record set at the 2016 Olympic Games Rio (56.46).
 
Campbell River Killer Whale MacKenzie Padington earned her second win of the meet in the 400 metre freestyle (4:10:63) where Thunderbirds Emily Overholt came in 7th (4:22:40) and Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson finished 9th (4:24:66). The nineteen-year-old Padington then topped the podium in the 400 individual medley in 2:15:25.
 
USA National Jr. Team member Isabelle Stadden claimed a meet record in the 50 metre backstroke (28:17), while second-year Thunderbird Ingrid Wilm came fourth (29:16) in the event.

??@ubctbirds @MarkusThor2 wins his second race of the weekend at the #MelZajac Jr. International. Topping the podium on day 2 in the men's 50M Backstroke in a time of 25.81 #GoBirdsGo @swimzajac #MelZajac18 pic.twitter.com/F9SbcQgUk5

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) June 3, 2018

In the men's 50 metre backstroke final, Thormeyer returned to his winning ways to claim first place in 25:81 - but has his sights set on a podium sweep.
 
"I knew that everyone was going to be faster tonight. Coming off that win last night, I wanted another win tonight...and tomorrow I'm looking forward to winning the 100 back and hopefully taking all three."

The third and final day of the Mel Zajac Jr. International Swim Meet gets going at 9 a.m. Sunday morning, with finals slated for 5:30 p.m.