The Kelowna-West Kelowna Intergrated Club (KWIC) was well represented at the 54th annual Mel Zajac Invitational with 11 swimmers competing at UBC’s new 50-metre pool.
Axana Merckx took one second off both her 200 IM and back, and five seconds in her 400 IM, placing 18th out 71 competitors to qualify for the Canadian junior championships in Toronto in July. She also dropped 16 seconds in her 800 free.
Molly Hill shaved off two seconds in her 100 backstroke and qualified for the Canadian juniors.
Christina Russo swam to 15th place in the 50 fly in a field of 107 swimmers and qualifies for the Canadian Senior Championships in August in Montreal
Olympic 200 metre breaststroke finalist Kierra Smith swam to a third-place finish in the 100 breast and a first-place finish in the 200 breast. Smith will be heading the Budapest, Hungary this summer where she will compete at the FINA World Championships.
Emily Epp, 16, swam to an 11th place finish in the 1500 free and dropped two seconds in her 200IM.
Paige Foster, 14, dropped one second in her 200IM and six in her 400IM to also qualify for the Canadian junior championships.
Makenna Haight swam to a best time in the 100 back taking off two seconds, Jasper Stone took a second off his 400IM and Marc Toyata dropped a second in his 200 free.
Strong swims were also had by Kassidie Cornell and Bryce Molder, while Erin Epp also qualified for the Canadian junior championships in Toronto.
KWIC consists of swimmers from both the Kelowna AquaJets and Liquid Lightning Swim Clubs.
