VANCOUVER – The 58
th Annual Mel Zajac Jr. International Swim Meet concluded in record-breaking fashion on Sunday evening inside the UBC Aquatics Centre.
After a successful weekend of competition that showcased nearly 600 swimmers from across North America, World champion and Canadian Olympian Joshua Liendo capped off the individual events with a new meet record in the 100m freestyle with a time of 49.02.
"Having Maggie MacNeil and Joshua here was definitely a highlight to this swim meet," said UBC head coach
Derrick Schoof. "They really brought a lot of cachet to the meet and they swam great. I gained a whole new level of respect for those two athletes. They're both really professional, they're both very kind, and they put up some great performances. We now have two Thunderbirds going to worlds, and they both had really good meets.
Emma O'Croinin stepped up and swam really well and so did
Hugh McNeill. They both put up some really good in-season times. For us to be able to bring such high-quality swimming to UBC and be competitive at this level year in and year out, it's a real pleasure and a real honour."
UBC's
Blake Tierney defended his gold medal in the 100m backstroke in 55.33, with fellow Thunderbird McNeill finishing third with a time of 57.09. Tierney was back on the podium with a silver medal in the 50m breaststroke after touching the wall in 29.44.
The T-Birds finished third in the women's 4x100m medley relay, with
Brooklyn Wiens,
Eloise Allen,
Sela Wist, and
Rose Garcia capturing bronze, as the men's team of McNeill, Tierney,
Justice Migneault, and
Joshua Kim capped off the evening with gold in the event.
Liendo earned top Senior Male swimmer honours, Maggie MacNeil was named top Senior Female, Aiden Hammer took home the award for top Junior Male, and Piper Enge was crowned Junior Female performer of the meet.
Next up on the international swimming stage for a number of Zajac participants is the FINA World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, where UBC's O'Croinin and McNeill will represent Team Canada alongside Maggie MacNeil and Liendo.
