Cactus Classic Recap

Twenty-two swimmers from the National Squad made the trip south for a training camp and meet in
Arizona. They spent 6 days in Phoenix training hard, followed by a fun 3-day meet in Scottsdale. This
served as an opportunity to get away and focus on high quality training and racing without the
distractions at home. The sunny weather doesn’t hurt either!

The swimmers were resilient as both the camp and meet challenged them in ways they had never been
challenged before. For every single one of them, this was their first ever training camp. Managing their
time, cooking for themselves, swimming backstroke outdoors (with the sun in your eyes), and surviving
the nearly 40-degree weather was all new for the swimmers. Despite this though, they put in an
amazing week of training, and followed it up with great efforts at the Cactus Classic Swim Meet. Sprits
were high, and there were many great performances.

The ‘Arena Shootout 50’s’ at the meet was an event that was highly anticipated. The top 16 from each
50m event from prelims advance to the quarter finals Friday evening. The top 8 then advance to
Saturday and face-off again. Finally, the top 4 square off against one-another in a final 50 on Sunday
night. This had everyone on their feet cheering, and UCSC was well represented throughout. Making the
final four was Hayleigh Haines in the 50m breast, Matthew Cheung in the 50m breast, Jeffery Cheung in
the 50m fly, and Julia Norman in the 50m free. Hayleigh and Jeffery won their respective events, taking
home the title of Shootout Winners, as well as new Arena swimsuits.

Less than an hour after her win in the 50m breast, Hayleigh swam to gold in the 100m breast with a time
of 1:13.01 – a new CSC standard, and a club record for 14-year-old girls.

Also attaining new standards was Matthew Cheung, who hit a CSC cut in his 50 breast, Zoey Janzen who
dipped under the Western time in the 50 fly, as well as Julia Norman who got another CJC standard in
the 100 back.

In addition to the training and racing, the swimmers were able to enjoy themselves outside of the pool
as well. They did a couple “touristy” things as a group, hit up the mall to shop some stores we don’t
have in Canada, as well as test out some favourite American restaurants.

All-in-all, it was a great experience for everyone. Great training, a great swim meet, lots of fun, and
everyone is coming back home a few shades darker.