VANCOUVER –
Tera Van Beilen of Oakville, Ont., became the first UBC Thunderbirds athlete to win a medal at the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, as she helped Canada take bronze in the women's 4x100-metre medley relay in swimming today.
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COMMONWEALTH GAMES DAILY RESULTSOn the final day of competition at the Tollcross Swimming Centre, Van Beilen teamed up with Sinead Russell, Katerine Savard and Sandrine Mainville to bring Canada home in four minutes and 0.57 seconds, behind Australia and England.
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Van Beilen was second into the pool for Canada and swam the breaststroke leg of the race. She got the team into first place at the 150-m mark.
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"This meet was a bit of a rollercoaster ride for me," said Van Beilen. "I had a couple good races and some disappointing ones as well. But finishing the meet with a bronze medal was the perfect ending. Now it's back to the drawing board to fix some mistakes before heading to Australia in a week for the next meet.
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"I had a great time here in Glasgow, learned a lot and am honoured to be able to represent Canada and UBC."
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In addition to her bronze medal in the relay, Van Beilen also made two finals in her individual events. The Kinesiology student earned a fifth-place finish in the 50-m breaststroke and a sixth in the 100-m race.
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Incoming recruit
Yuri Kisil of Calgary continued his impressive swimming for Canada in today's men's 4x100-m medley relay final. The 18-year-old freestyler turned in an excellent anchor leg to give the red and white a fourth-place finish. Kisil entered the pool with Canada in seventh but passed three swimmers en route to recording a 48.14 split.
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The team, which also included Russell Wood, Richard Funk and Evan White, finished in 3:36.61.
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During this morning's first 4x100-m IM heat, T-Bird
Coleman Allen of Barrie, Ont., swam the butterfly portion as Canada triumphed to qualify for the final.
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Also in the pool, Richmond's
Luke Reilly was fifth in his 200-m individual medley heat, finishing in 2:03.10. That result didn't advance him to the next round.
With swimming finished, the main focus of the UBC contingent in Glasgow will be on track and field tomorrow.
Alumna Liz Gleadle of Vancouver will be competing in the women's javelin final while alumnus Mike Mason of Parksville is in the field of the men's high jump final.
Canada's women's field hockey team, with six current and former T-Birds along with coach
Robin D'Abreo, will be back in action on Wednesday against New Zealand.