59TH ANNUAL MEL ZAJAC JR. INTERNATIONAL SWIM MEET
Ilia Sibirtsev punched his ticket to the Paris Olympics within the 800 freestyle on Friday, clearing the qualifying normal with a 7:50.05 on the Mel Zajac Jr. Worldwide Swim Meet in Vancouver, Canada.
Sibirtsev had been below the Olympic ‘A’ reduce (7:51.65) earlier than together with his personal-best 7:48.05 from 2019, however not in the course of the present qualifying window. With simply two days remaining till the June 23 deadline to qualify, he lowered his 7:53.87 from February’s World Championships by virtually 4 seconds.
Sibirtsev is from Russia, however he’ll characterize Uzbekistan in Paris subsequent month after having his sporting nationality change authorised by World Aquatics this yr. The transfer didn’t go over nicely with the Russian Swimming Federation, whose president, Vladimir Salnikov, reportedly vowed to conduct a radical evaluate of his switch to make sure compliance with governing rules.
Sibirtsev lately wrapped up his NCAA profession as a fifth yr at Louisville, the place he positioned eighth within the 1650-yard free (14:41.87) on the 2024 NCAA Championships in March.
Canadian Olympic medal contenders Maggie MacNeil, Ilya Kharun, and Josh Liendo have been all in motion on Friday within the 50 butterfly, although Liendo ended up scratching out of the ultimate.
MacNeil, who’s aiming subsequent month to develop into the primary back-to-back Olympic champion within the girls’s 100 fly, dominated the ladies’s 50 fly with a profitable time of 26.13. The 24-year-old narrowly missed her personal-best 25.97 from 2022.
Kharun, a rising sophomore at Arizona State, claimed the boys’s 50 fly crown in 23.35. The 19-year-old has been as quick as 23.27 finally yr’s World Championships. Liendo scratched 50 fly last after qualifying 2nd in prelims at 23.90, greater than half a second off his lifetime better of 23.27 from final April.
Irish report holder Mona McSharry cruised to victory within the girls’s 100 breast (1:06.44), however she was even sooner in prelims at 1:06.32. She was only a couple tenths off her season-best 1:06.11 from February’s World Championships, which ranks fifteenth on this planet.
Yeziel Morales lowered his Puerto Rican report within the males’s 200 backstroke from 1:58.30 final month to 1:57.97 in prelims, simply off the Olympic ‘A’ reduce of 1:57.50. The Mission Viejo Nadadores 28-year-old couldn’t fairly repeat the feat within the last, inserting 2nd behind Aiden Norman (1:58.56). Norman was only a couple tenths off his personal-best 1:58.30 from final month’s Canadian Olympic Trials, the place he finally positioned Third in 1:58.92.
Different Highlights
- Tennessee commit (‘24) Ella Jansen took the ladies’s 400 IM title in 4:41.48. She positioned 2nd finally month’s Olympic Trials in 4:38.88 — exterior the qualifying normal of 4:38.53 — however she cleared that mark along with her runner-up end at World Juniors final September (4:37.35).
- Emma O’Croinin captured the ladies’s 200 free crown in 2:00.54, however she was even faster throughout prelims at 2:00.12 in prelims. She earned her first Olympic berth with a 4th-place end (1:57.86) finally month’s Olympic Trials, making her a possible choose for Canada’s 4×200 free relay.
- Lorne Wigginton triumphed within the males’s 400 IM with a time of 4:19.95. The Michigan commit (‘24) positioned 2nd at Canadian Olympic Trials final month in 4:13.60, simply off his personal-best 4:12.81 from his Third-place end at World Juniors final September. The Olympic ‘A’ reduce is 4:12.50.
- UBC Thunderbirds’ Bridget Burton prevailed within the girls’s 200 again (2:14.44), only a few tenths off her personal-best 2:12.14 from final month’s Canadian Olympic Trials.
- Mexico’s Miguel De Lara delivered a 100 breast victory in 1:00.73, about half a second shy of his personal-best 1:00.14 from final April. The Olympic ‘A’ reduce sits at 59.49.
- Christian Sztolcman, an Auburn graduate from Poland, pulled out a win within the males’s 200 free (1:48.07). He dropped .18 seconds off his previous-best 1:48.25 from April, however he’s nonetheless greater than a second exterior the Olympic ‘A’ reduce of 1:46.26.
