The four-time defending U SPORTS national champion UBC Thunderbirds are pleased to welcome 10 new recruits to the highly decorated swimming programs for the upcoming season.
 
Seven student-athletes will join the storied 24-time national champion women's program that has won eight of the last nine U SPORTS championships and is looking to extend their current winning streak to five consecutive titles. An additional three swimmers will join the 18-time national champion men's program, winners of five of the past six U SPORTS championships, for the much-anticipated return to competition.


 
Three-time U SPORTS Coach of the Year and reigning Canada West Women's Coach of the Year, Derrick Schoof, is eager to work with the incoming recruits in his third season as head coach of the Thunderbirds.


 
"I am thrilled to be welcoming such an amazing group of recruits to the UBC Thunderbird Swim Team this coming season," said Schoof. "These young men and women are excited to join the Thunderbird family. They are committed to excellence and already very successful swimmers in their own right - several have represented Canada internationally including at the Tokyo Olympics. I know we've chosen an excellent group to carry on the winning ways of the UBC Thunderbirds Swim Teams, and I look forward to guiding each of them as they embark on their university swimming careers."
 
The women's team welcomes Canadian national team swimmer Emma O'Croinin as a 200m and 400m freestyle specialist who will study Kinesiology at UBC. The eighteen-year-old Edmonton, Alberta native won a bronze medal for Canada in the 4x200m freestyle relay at the 2019 FINA World Championships after winning a silver and two bronze at the 2019 FINA World Junior Championships and was named Swimming Canada's Female Junior Swimmer of the Year in 2019.
 
Emma Spence brings her talent to the 'Birds after winning gold at the 2019 Canadian junior swimming championships in the 200m breaststroke. The 6-foot-tall Regina, Saskatchewan native will study Arts as she looks to contribute to the T-Bird team after graduating from Luther College High School.
 
Winnipeg, Manitoba's Anja Krueger will compete in the 200m and 400m freestyle events for the Thunderbirds while studying Biology at UBC.
 
Brooklyn Wiens joins the 'Birds as a sprinter from Red Deer, Alberta. The 18 year-old Red Deer Catalina Swim Club product is aiming to earn a Bachelor of Science while with the T-Birds.
 
The Thunderbirds also add West Vancouver's Quincy Bender to the program as a freestyle specialist who will study Psychology at UBC. The Sentinel Secondary School grad was a member of Team B.C.'s Luxembourg travel team and swam with the Chena Swim Club.
 
Oakville, Ontario's Sara Moulson will study Commerce while competing with the 'Birds after swimming the 100m freestyle and 200m backstroke (a personal best time) at the Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials in June.
 

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— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) April 8, 2021

The UBC women's swimming program will also be bolstered by two-time Tokyo 2020 medalist Kayla Sanchez in January 2022 after an impressive Olympic debut for the rising Canadian star.
 
The men's program is excited to add Tsawwassen's Calvin Slinn to the team from South Delta Secondary School. The prospective Computer Science and Physics student will specialize in distance freestyle events and swam personal best times in both the 400m and 800m freestyle at the Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials.
 
Justin Fotherby joins the Thunderbirds from Penticton Secondary School as a 200m and 400m individual medley specialist – two events in which Fotherby swam personal best times at the Olympic Trials. The KISU Swim Club product will study Science at UBC with his sights set on a career in either pharmacology or radiology.
 
Rounding out the incoming recruit class of T-Bird swimmers is Langley, B.C.'s Hugh McNeil who swam the 100m and 200m backstroke, as well as the 800m and 1500m freestyle at the Canadian Olympic Trials this summer. The 6-foot-four Langley Olympians Swim Club product will study Engineering at UBC.
 
The Thunderbirds look forward to welcoming all ten new student-athletes to the world-class UBC Aquatic Centre to begin the quest for five straight national championships and eight consecutive Canada West title sweeps.