Four Gopher swimmers with Canadian ties will compete at this week’s Canadian Olympic Trials. The meet is scheduled to run from Tuesday, April 5 through Sunday, April 10 at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Complex.
2015 NCAA Champion Kierra Smith took the past season off from collegiate competition to focus on Rio. Smith will look to qualify for the Olympics with a top finish this week. Smith is the No. 1 seed in the 200-meter breast (2:22.82) and No. 2 seed in the 100 breast (1:07.88).
Smith has experience winning gold at this pool at last summer’s Pan-American Games. Smith went on to final in the 200 breast at the 2015 FINA World Championships, where she clocked a lifetime best of 2:22.82 in the semifinals—lowering her school record.
Senior Samantha Harding is coming off a breakout summer where she represented Team Canada in the 10-kilometer open water race at the 2015 Pan American Games and World Championships. This week, Harding will look to place in the top-two to move on to the FINA World Cup in Portugal this spring where she will have a chance to advance to qualify for the Olympics.
Junior Gopher and Winnipeg native Breanne Siwicki is the No. 21 seed in the 200 fly with a 2:19.19. She will also compete in the 400 IM and 800 free. Siwicki is coming off a strong college season where she placed as high as fourth at the B1G Championships in the 400 IM, and qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Freshman Lauren Lalumiere will swim the 200 free, 200 fly and 800 free for her hometown Oakland, Ontario.
Swimming news courtesy of Minnesota Swimming & Diving.