TORONTO – The UBC Thunderbirds swimming program continues to make waves as five current, incoming, and alumni swimmers have secured their spots for the upcoming 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games taking place from July 26 through to August 11. The recent Olympic trials in at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre showcased some standout performances, highlighting the depth and talent within the storied program.
Leading the charge is
Blake Tierney, who red-shirted for the 'Birds in the 2023-24 season in order focus on Olympic qualification. Tierney qualified for two individual events, the 100m backstroke and 200m backstroke, and will be a key member of the Canadian men's 4x100m medley relay team.
Emma O'Croinin, another exceptional student-athlete on UBC's current roster will join Tierney in Paris. O'Croinin, was instrumental in leading the T-Birds to a gold medal win at the UBC hosted, Odlum Brown Colleges Cup back in November with a meet-high 96 points, qualified for the 4x200m freestyle relay. The Edmonton native red-shirted for the 2023-24 season and will be back for 2024-25.
Future Thunderbird Finlay Knox will also see his Olympic dreams fulfilled as he competes in the 200m IM and the 4x100m medley relay at the Summer Games. Knox, will be joining the blue and gold for the 2024-2025 season and trains with Tierney and O'Croinin at UBC in the Swimming Canada High Performance Centre under coach Scott Talbot, who will also be part of Team Canada in Paris.
Rounding out the list are T-Birds alumni Ingrid Wilm and Yuri Kisil. Wilm secured her spot in the 100m backstroke, while Kisil will be competing in both the 100m freestyle and the 4x100m freestyle relay.
The UBC Thunderbirds have a proud history of producing Olympic athletes, most recently the 'Birds had six swimmers competing for Canada at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, while one swimmer,
Hoi Lam Karen Tam, represented Hong Kong. This year's group aims to continue that tradition of excellence.
There remains potential for a couple more UBC swimmers to qualify for the Games. Soon to be Thunderbird Kayla Sanchez, who earned Canada's first medal (silver) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by swimming the leadoff leg in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay, now competes for the Philippines and still has a chance to qualify. Additionally, alumna Tam, representing Hong Kong, is in contention. Both swimmers have a few more weeks to secure their spots for Paris.
As the Paris 2024 approaches, UBC is proud to have athletes competing at the Olympic Games and looks forward to their performances on the world stage.
