The 59th Mel Zajac Junior International Swimming Championships
Canada's Olympic medal contenders Josh Liendo and Ilya Karun Just weeks before the Summer Olympics begin in Paris next month, the athletes made their final preparations on Sunday at the Mel Zajac Junior International Tournament.
Liendo won the 100 freestyle in 48.62 seconds, nearly a second faster than her personal best of 47.55 seconds, which she set at the Canadian Olympic Trials last month. The 21-year-old NCAA champion is currently ranked eighth in the 100 freestyle this season.
Karun, a rising sophomore from Arizona State University, easily won the men's 200 butterfly by more than six seconds with a winning time of 1:55.13. The 19-year-old from Sandpipers, Nevada, clocked 1:54.41 at last month's Canadian Olympic Trials to rise to sixth in the world rankings this season. Karun tied for fourth place at last summer's world championships with a time of 1:53.82.
Men's 100m backstroke Javier Acevedo (54.93) Beat Blake Tierney (55.94) and Aiden Norman (55.12). At last month's Canadian Olympic Trials, both Acevedo (53.55) and Tierney (53.48) earned tickets to Paris. This will be Acevedo's third consecutive Olympic Games.
Kayla Sanchez Won the women's 100m freestyle (54.25) Taylor Lack (55.51) Sanchez, who has switched nationality from Canada to represent the Philippines next month, improved her season's best from the 54.88 she ran at the world championships in February but hasn't broken 54 seconds since the 2022 world championships (53.45). Luck was just over a second slower than the 54.47 she ran for fourth at last month's Canadian Olympic Trials.
In the women's 100m backstroke, Ashley McMillan The 20-year-old won in a personal best time of 1:00.82, shaving more than three-tenths of a second off her previous best of 1:01.16, which she set for sixth place at last month's Canadian Olympic Trials.
The 50 breaststroke saw two exciting battles. Sophie Angus (31.68) Postponed Alexanne Lepage Angus won the event in 32.01 seconds. His personal best time was 30.86 seconds when he placed 12th in the semi-finals at the 2024 World Championships in February. Alexus Savickas (28.20) won by a narrow margin. Apollo Hess (28.47). Savikas, a junior from Lithuania who is attending the University of Florida, shaved nearly a tenth of a second off his 2022 personal best of 28.29.
Applejean Gwynne The 25-year-old UCLA commit won the 200 butterfly in a time of 2 minutes 17.58 seconds, within seconds of her personal best of 2 minutes 14.62 seconds, which she set last summer.
