Luca Urlando, Jade Hannah Complete Fly/Backstroke Sweeps On Day 3 of Mel Zajac

2019 MEL ZAJAC JR. INTERNATIONAL MEET

• May 24-26, 2019
• Vancouver, Canada (University of British Columbia)
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On the third and final night of the 56th annual Mel Zajac Jr. International Meet, two age group stars in Luca Urlando and Jade Hannah completed their sweeps of the 50/100/200 distances of butterfly events and backstroke events, respectively.

After winning the 50 fly on night one and the 100 fly on night two, earning personal bests in both, Urlando put up a monster 1:54.35 personal record in the 200 fly tonight, which is the third fastest time in the world this year. That time easily cleared the meet record, and is within striking distance of Michael Phelps’s legendary 17-18 national age group record of 1:53.93.

At the conclusion of the meet, Urlando is, as of now, the fastest American in the 200 fly, and the third fastest American in the 100 fly.

Island Swim Club’s Jade Hannah also won all three of the backstroke events this weekend. Winning the 200 with a 2:10.62 and the 50 in 28.24, the 17-year-old Canadian threw down a swift 1:00.14 for the win in the 100 back. Her best time in the event is a 59.62 from the 2017 FINA World Junior Championships in Indianapolis – approaching that mark in May with this year’s Junior Worlds coming up could be an indicator of a personal best to come later in the summer.

Also earning three individual event wins was 16-year-old Torri Huske, who’s representing the United State National Junior Team. Huske won the 50 and 100 butterflies the first two night, and clutched out a third victory in tonight’s 100 free final, posting a 55.69 to beat out Mackenzie Padington – a rising third-year from the University of Minnesota – who earned second by the slimmest of margins with a 55.70.

The last three-time event winner of the meet was another 16-year-old: Emma O’Croinin. Winning both the 200 free and 1500 free earlier in the competition, the Canadian distance ace claimed the top spot in the timed final of the 800 free with a final time of 8:42.72. Keeping up with O’Croinin through the first half of the race was University of Calgary’s Danica Ludlow – she held on for the runner-up spot in a time of 8:46.77.

 Other Day 3 Winners:

• LA Swim Club’s Rachel Nicol was one of two women to break 32 in the women’s 50 breast final. The 26-year-old touched the wall first in a final time of 31.42 ahead of 17-year-old Kaitlyn Dobler from the US Junior Team, who finished in 31.93.
• After barely losing to future Texas longhorn Caspar Corbeau in the 100 breast by two one-hundredths of a second, soon-to-be Northwestern Wildcat Kevin Houseman turned the tables in the 50 breast final. Houseman edged out Corbeau, who actually tied for second with breaststroke veteran Richard Funk, posting a 28.55 to Corbeau’s 28.65.
• 15-year-old Charlotte Hook of the USA Junior Team annihilated the field in the women’s 200 fly, touching almost five seconds ahead of second place in a time of 2:10.47. The next closest competitor was 17-year-old Josie Field, who hit the wall at 2:15.29.
• University of Denver Hilltopper Cameron Auchinachie was the only competitor in the men’s 100 free to dip below the ever-mystical 50 second barrier. The will-be junior won the event handily with a solid 49.63, touching ahead of University of British Columbia’s Carson Olafson, who hit the pad at 50.43.
• Markus Thormeyer, who will be swimming in four events for Canada at the upcoming 2019 FINA World Championships, easily won the men’s 100 back by over a second. The 21-year-old registered a final time of 54.42, and was subsequently followed by Canadian age group phenom Cole Pratt in 55.87.
• The winner of night one’s 800 free Chris Wieser came back on the final night to deliver yet another victory in the men’s 1500. The recent Arizona graduate battled with Quebec native Nathan Beaudin-Bolduc through the entirety of the race, but ended up holding onto first with a final time of 15:55.25. Beaudin-Bolduc settled for second with a 15:56.52.