VANCOUVER –
Yuri Kisil's bronze medal in the men's 50-metre freestyle race highlighted the UBC performances for Canada at the 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
Kisil's bronze medal was the first on the men's side for Canada at the meet, and came on the last day of action at the Tatsumi International Swimming Center. Kisil, a 22-year-old from Calgary, swam a personal best 22.02. It's the first individual international hardware for the decorated relay medallist, Canada's co-male swimmer of the year for 2017.
"It's a big deal. I've wanted to get on the podium individually for a long time. To finally do it here means the world," Kisil said in a Swimming Canada news release. "I had a lot of great experiences here and hopefully we'll be back in two years."
Kisil also finished third in the B final of the men's 100 free with a time of 49 seconds flat. He also placed fourth in the 4x100 freestyle relay with fellow Thunderbird
Markus Thormeyer, and fifth in the 4x100 medley relay (3:34.20).
Photo by Irwin Wong/Swimming Canada
Emily Overholt had a pair of fifth-place finishes in her return to the national team after missing most of 2017 because of injury. She had a time of 4:08.81 in the 400 free, and touched the wall in 4:39.48 in the 400 individual medley.
Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson was sixth in the 400 IM, finishing the race in 4:40.22. The recently graduated T-Bird was also second in the B final of the 200 IM (2:13.31), and 16th in the 200 back (2:14.44).
Photo by Irwin Wong/Swimming Canada
Thormeyer placed sixth in the 100 back event (54.02), second in the B final of the 200 back (1:59.37), and fifth in the B final of the 200 (1:48.23). In addition to the 4x100 free relay, Thormeyer also helped Canada take fifth in the 4x200 free relay, a squad that also included Thunderbirds recruit Alex Pratt.
Josiah Binnema made the B final of the 100 fly and finished third (52.71). The swimmer from Prince George, B.C., was 16th in the 100 back heats (56.53) and 18th in the 200 backstroke heats (2:06.45). He swam the butterfly leg in both the 4x100 men's and mixed medley relay races. The mixed team earned fourth place (3:46.75) while the men were fifth (3:34.20).
Hau-Li Fan of Vancouver took part in the final event of the championships, the 10-k open water swim at Hojo Beach, and finished seventh in a time of 1:59:26.5.
Pratt displayed why he's one of this year's most prized university recruits from this country.
The 18-year-old from Calgary was the top Canadian in the men's 800 free, claiming eighth place with a time of 8:03.12. He was fourth in the 400 free B final (3:51.84), and 23rd in the 200 free heats (1:49.35). Pratt was also part of the 4x200 relay team that was fifth (7:18.25).
UBC swimming will have more opportunities to shine on the international stage as
Hoi Lam Karen Tam will represent Hong Kong at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia next week. The swimming competition will run Aug. 19 to 24 at the GBK Aquatic Center.
- with files from Swimming Canada
