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Thormeyer leads UBC to 4th straight national title

Tsawwassen standout is named U Sports Male Swimmer of the Year
swimming
Tsawwassen's Markus Thormeyer will be turning his attention to next month's Olympic Trials in Toronto after another dominating performance at the U Sports National Championships in Saanich this weekend.

Canada’s top male swimmer put on another show at the U Sports Championships in Saanich.

Tsawwassen’s Markus Thormeyer dominated the three-day meet from start to finish leading the UBC Thunderbirds to their fourth consecutive national title.

Not only did the 22-year-old South Delta Secondary graduate retain his U Sports Swimmer of the Year award, he also capped off the championships by completing his second grand slam (four straight wins) in the 200-metre backstroke with a U SPORTS record-setting time of 1:58.54.

For good measure, he added gold in the 100m freestyle 17 minutes later and another in the 4x100m individual medley relay.

On day one, the Winskill Dolphins Swim Club alumni captured the 100m backstroke for the fourth consecutive year in a meet record time of 53.51 seconds. That was also the fourth fastest time in the world.

He then showcased his talent in the 4x200 metre relay with a blistering anchor leg that saw him overcome a three-second deficit to win another gold for the Thunderbirds. 

On day two it was a victory in the 200m free with a time of 1:48.29 — just off his own Canadian University record.

“It was cool that I could have a week like this,” said Thormeyer who will be heading to Toronto next month for the Canadian Olympic Team Trials. “(After my first race), I went right to warm down like a good swimmer should. I thought about my next race all break, had a couple jelly packs, hydrated and just had fun with it.”

After being offered a scholarship to USC, Thormeyer opted to stay north of the border for his university career and continue to train with Swim Canada’s High Performance-Vancouver that is based at the UBC Aquatic Centre.