SEATTLE - The UBC Thunderbirds men's and women's swimming teams shook off any remaining holiday racing rust Friday afternoon as they ventured south of the border to meet the Seattle University Redhawks in a dual meet at the Redhawk Center.
 
Although there's been plenty of intense training sessions since the calendar flipped to 2024, Friday afternoon counted as the T-Birds first official racing action of the new year and first since the Canada West Swimming Championships in Calgary in late November where the 'Birds women's team captured the gold medal and the men's squad claimed the silver medal. Although it wasn't a flawless meet for the visitors the blue and gold have plenty of positives to take away from their 2024 racing debut that saw them win most of the events on both the men's and women's side while also setting at least five pool records in the process.


 
"Our team has been working very hard for the past three weeks so, of course, we looked somewhat tired today," said UBC Thunderbirds head coach Derrick Schoof. "However, we raced hard and really pushed our limits. There is always lots to learn from racing. And racing a new team in a yard's pool was lots of fun. With seven-weeks to the U SPORTS Championships we still have some more hard work to do before it's time to taper for peak performances and I am confident that we will be ready when the time comes."


 
Following the meet the T-Birds traveled north up the I-5 in order to return home for a quick turnaround as they're set to host the UBC Winter Warm-Up (long course meters) meet which gets underway at 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning at the UBC Aquatic Centre. The T-Birds will welcome eight teams to the UBC Campus including the University of Victoria, West Vancouver Otters, Langley Olympians, Surrey Knights, Pacific Sea Wolves, Richmond Rapids and Vancouver Pacific.