Westerns Wrap-Up

2024 marked the last edition of the Western Canadian Championship which has been held in the late-Winter/early-Spring for the last 30 years. The meet brought swimmers together from across Western Canada and provided challenging racing for our swimmers – a much higher level than we get at Alberta meets.

The UCSC crew of 21 swimmers was comprised of swimmers aged 13-18, eight of whom were at their first Westerns. Many events had a very deep field, meaning swimmers had to be at their best to qualify for finals swims. This challenge is great for swimmers in preparation for the highest levels of meets in their future.

The group posted 31 best times in individual events, plus 13 best-ever relay splits. Leading the charge with 6 best times was Meghan Sutherland, all of which came in prelim swims! 5 medals were won by the team, including Ranumi Eashwarage with 2 silvers (100 fly, 100 free), Hayleigh Haines with silver and bronze (50 breast, 100 breast), and Demetri Mylonas silver (200 back). 12 more swims made the top 8 including Adam Al Seafan (200 back), Danyar Askar (100 fly), Jeffery Cheung (50 fly, 100 fly), Ranumi (50 free, 50 fly), Hilary Guo (100 back, 200 back), Sophia Meller (100 back), Avery Mitchell (200 back), and Christine Zhou (50 back, 100 back).

Three relays cracked the top 8 as well. First up, on Friday, the boys 800 free relay (Danyar, Demetri, Andrew Byrne, and Jeffery) swam under their entry time to place 7th. The next night the ladies followed suit in the 400 medley relay (Hilary, Hayleigh, Ranumi, and Meghan) placed 5th – an especially impressive performance considering all four girls were 14 or younger. Finally, on the last night, the mixed 400 medley relay of Hilary, Matthew Cheung, Danyar, and Ranumi finished the meet off with a 6th place finish.

Finally, one more great highlight from the meet was Christine Zhou qualifying for Olympic Trials in the 100 back!

Overall, the meet was a great experience for the UCSC swimmers. Congrats everyone!