The warm weather brings everyone to the local pools, but the upcoming weekend (June 1-3) will see the UBC Thunderbirds host over 600 swimmers at the 55th Annual Mel Zajac Jr. International Swim Meet.
Swimming fans in the area will have the opportunity to see some of swimming’s biggest names as well as upcoming future Olympians from Canada, the United States and around the world competing at the UBC Aquatic Centre.
Some of the athletes that will be attending include Canada’s youngest ever Olympic champion, Penny Oleskiak, who managed to become the first
Rio “Gold”
Canadian to win four medals in a single Summer Games.
This after she managed to claim Gold, Silver and two (2) Bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympic games.
Other swimmers on hand will be American Caeleb Dressel, who is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist as well as a world record holder at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships where he won seven (7) Gold medals.
Lochte on the other hand needs little introduction having collected 12 Olympic medals as well as having four world records.
Joining the above trio in Vancouver is Scottish swimmer Mark Szaranek who collected both a Silver and Bronze medals at the recent 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Australia.
Several international UBC swimmers will also be on hand at their home pool, which will include 2018 Commonwealth Games Bronze medalists Markus Thormeyer and Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson.
Other T-Bird swimmers include Olympic Bronze medalist Emily Overholt, World Championships relay Bronze medalist Yuri Kisil and Canadian National team member Josiah Binnema.
UBC Swimming Head Coach Steve Price tells the media “The UBC Thunderbirds along with our partners are so pleased to be hosting the 55th annual Mel Zajac Jr. International.”
He continued “This year the prestige level of competition has increased given the quality and caliber of the international athletes that are attending. It will be one of the premiere meets this spring as athletes prepare for the Pan Pacific Championships, the European Championships and the Asian Games. The meet will be fast and we hope to see many meet records broken.”
The Zajac Foundation has generously supported the meet since 1997, allowing the event to attract top international talent year after year.
The meet is named after Mel Zajac Jr. who was a swimmer on the Canadian National Team and competed for Canada at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Prior to becoming a sponsor in 1997, the Zajac Foundation supported a swim camp and clinic for young swimmers from around BC in the Interior.
The Mel Zajac Jr. International is one manner in which to showcase Canada’s next generation of swimmers on the big stage.
Taking part in the week-long event are 16 young swimmers for the National Development Team Program training camp that ends with each (eight men and eight women) taking part in the meet.
The first preliminary races in the 55th Annual Mel Zajac Jr. International Swim Meet begin Friday June 1st at 9:00 a.m.
All races are held at the UBC Aquatic Centre and if you wish further information please visit www.swimzajac.com
Thanks to Stu Walters, UBC Senior Manager/Communications for the info.
