Mel Zajac Jr. International Meet: Alec Page Doubles; California Women Strong

By David Rieder

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 27. The first finals session of the Mel Zajac Jr. International Meet at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver is in the books. Canadian swimmer Alec Page took home two wins at the long course meters meet, while two of his star compatriots, Brent Hayden and Annamay Pierse, brought home a victory each. Meanwhile, the University of California women's team is in Vancouver, and Bears Amanda Sims and Caitlin Leverenz both won events on the first night.

Victoria's Page won the two long events on the men's program, the 400 IM and 800 free. He took the 400 IM in 4:30.93, followed by Vancouver's Matt Pariselli (4:34.25) and Calgary's Sean Penhale (4:36.40). Page clocked 8:15.86 for the 800 free win, while Penhale moved up to second in 8:18.28. Victoria's Will Brothers ended up third in 8:23.09.

UBC's Hayden won a tight final in the men's 200 free. Hayden, the 2007 100 free world champ, checked in at 1:52.46, followed closely by Calgary's Chad Bobrosky in 1:52.63 and Island's Jeremy Bagshaw in 1:52.73. Bobrosky won the 200 back in 2:05.65 to beat Victoria's Nicholas Sinclair (2:06.64) and Winnipeg's Bryce Kananowicz (2:08.05).

Langley's Jake Tapp edged Americans Neil O'Halloran and Andrew Wang in the 50 fly. Tapp clocked 25.32, while the Americans recorded respective times of 25.43 and 25.48. Vancouver's Scott Dickens grabbed the 100 breast title in 1:02.86, while Edmonton's Richard Funk finished almost a second behind in 1:03.63. Finland's Eetu Karvonen wound up third in 1:04.13.

Vancouver's Annamay Pierse took down Calgary's Jillian Tyler in the women's 100 breast. 200 breast World record-holder Pierse clocked 1:08.10 to move into a tie with teammate Martha McCabe at 19th in the world, while NCAA and Canadian national champ Tyler settled for second for second at 1:08.73, missing her 11th-ranked time of 1:07.56. Medicine Hat's Tianna Rissling came in third at 1:09.51.

Cal teammates Sims and Leverenz won the 50 fly and 400 IM, respectively. Sims moved into the world top-40 with her 27.07 victory, defeating Vancouver's Noemie Thomas (27.63) and teammate Hannah Wilson (27.97). Leverenz crushed her competition in 4:42.91 in the IM race, well off her 12th-ranked time of 4:40.71. Surrey's Katie Caldwell (4:51.86) and Vancouver's Hayley Pipher (4:55.53) completed the top three.

Victoria's Julia Wilkinson took a narrow win in the women's 200 free. The former NCAA champion from Texas A&M clocked 2:02.08 to beat Calgary's Lindsay Delmar (2:02.24) and Cal/Hong Kong's Hannah Wilson. Surrey's Hillary Caldwell won the 200 back in 2:14.57, while Hong Kong's Stephanie Au edged Vancouver's Lauren Lavigna for second, 2:16.07 to 2:16.51. Vancouver's Savannah King rounded out the individual winners with her 16:35.94 first place swim in the 1500 free. Burnaby's Carmen Nam took second in 14:14.56, and Edmonton's Mercede Sloane finished third in 17:18.41.

University of Calgary ended the night with a win in the women's 400 free relay, with Fiona Doyle, Erica Morningstar, Katy Murdoch, and Lindsay Delmar clocking 3:48.69. University of British Columbia's team of Rory Biskupski, Duncan Furrer, Tommy Gossland, and Hayden grabbed first in the men's relay in 3:30.10.

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