Swimming
The UBC Thunderbirds were well represented in the Olympic swimming venue Sunday. It was two young T-Birds who participated in their first Olympic final by swimming the second and third leg for the Canadian men's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay team.
Markus Thormeyer and
Yuri Kisil helped the Canadian men become the seventh fastest team in the world. The 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay is one of the most competitive events in all of swimming with the US, France, the Australians, and Russians all capable of winning gold every time they dive in the water. It would be the US who would take gold on Sunday night in Rio.
The 20 year-old "Kisil the Missile" has one season (2014-15) as a UBC Thunderbird on his resume. He took the 2015-16 season off from the CIS to train for the Canadian Olympics trials. He spent Sunday night swimming his leg against American icon Michael Phelps.
The 17 year-old Thormeyer of Delta, BC is technically not even a Thunderbird yet. Like his soon to be teammate and childhood friend,
Emily Overholt, he will swim his first season for the Thunderbirds in September.
Both Thormeyer and Kisil are expected to be hitting their peak in Tokyo 2020 and the experience they gain in Rio will be invaluable.
Kisil still has more races while in Brazil. He will swim for Canada in both the 50 metre and 100 metre freestyle races.
Volleyball
In what could be considered one of the upsets of the Olympics thus far in the team sports, UBC Thunderbird
Blair Bann and his teammates on the Canadian men's volleyball team defeated the world's fifth ranked United States. Canada not only beat the favoured Americans, they swept them aside in straight sets (25-23, 25-17, 25-23).
Bann was a regular member of Canada West and CIS All-Star teams during his UBC career from 2006-2011. He is now the starting libero for team Canada. The Canadians were drawn into the so-called "Group of Death" with the US, the host Brazilians, and perennial world power Italy. They are Canada's first men's volleyball team to participate in a summer Olympics since 1992 in Barcelona. Canada's next game is Monday versus Italy.
Beach Volleyball
UBC Thunderbird
Jamie Broder and her partner Kristina Valjas got their Olympic beach volleyball tournament started the right way. The veteran Canadian tandem defeated their Italian opponents two sets to one in a three set battle at Copacabana Beach.
Broder was a star on Head Coach
Doug Reimer's UBC women's team that won the CIS title in 2008. The win broke a thirty-year title drought for the Thunderbirds. Broder and Valjas next play a pairing from Germany on Tuesday.