Olympians to compete in Canada West Championships

Michael Phelps swam here.

Well not here, as in the McKinnon Gym, but here in Victoria at Commonwealth Pool. Just saying that makes the chlorinated waters of Commonwealth akin to holy water. At least in some circles.

But now that I got your attention by name-dropping the greatest Olympian, and coincidentally greatest Halloween costume inspiration of the past year, lets turn our attention to some other Beijing Olympians who will be swimming in Victoria this weekend. Three members of Canada's swimming delegation to Beijing will be competing at Commonwealth Pool January 23-25, as part of the Canada West conference championships.

UBC's Annamy Pierse and Calgary's Mike Brown and Erica Morningstar headline a banner field of elite competitors who will don the swimsuits in hopes of bringing home the conference banner. Pierse, a breaststroke specialist, set a new Canadian standard in the 200m at the 2008 Olympics, and would later place sixth. Brown meanwhile came within 0.09 seconds of the podium with a fourth place finish in the 200m breaststroke.

Calgary and UBC remain the frontrunners, once the championships get underway on Friday. The Dinos are the defending champs, and between them and the T-Birds, it has been 16 years since another school held a title outright. Sixteen years ago Michael Phelps was seven and you may recall Mark Tewksbury swimming to gold in the Barcelona Games.

The Vikes hopes rest largely with MacKenzie Downing, who suffered heartache at last summer's Olympic trials and missed her ticket to Beijing by four tenths of a second. The butterfly specialist has 19 Canada West career medals to her credit and will be looking to go out on top in her fifth and final year of eligibility. Downing holds the Canada West record in the 100m fly, with a time of 1:01.02.

The full Vikes preview and schedule is posted on the UVic website and can be accessed by clicking here.

While a Phelps inspired eight-medal performance from any of this weekend's competitors might be a stretch, you can expect to see some of Canada's swimming hopefuls for the London 2012 Olympics. And if nothing else, you will feel a step closer to the Olympic God.