Len Catling, UBC Thunderbirds

VANCOUVER – The defending U SPORTS champion UBC Thunderbirds swim teams are busy preparing to host the Odlum Brown Colleges Cup on November 4 and 5 at the UBC Aquatic Centre.

The meet is the single home meet for the UBC Thunderbirds in the 2017-18 season and they are coming in on a hot streak, having swam away from the field at the Rocky Mountain Cup in Calgary on October 28 and 29.

"The last two weekends of competition in Victoria and Calgary have served the teams well in preparation for the Odlum Brown Colleges Cup - Pacific this coming weekend at UBC," said UBC head coach Steve Price. "Everyone is on top of their game and improved from the BC Senior Circuit Meet."

The UBC women's team, already boasting stars Ingrid Wilm and Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson, will welcome Rio Olympian Emily Overholt back to the fold for the Odlum Brown Colleges Cup. Overholt shattered the meet record in the 200-metre individual medley at the Rocky Mountain Cup.

"We are excited to welcome Emily Overholt back to the Thunderbirds for the Colleges Cup," said Price. "Emily will add to our dominant women's roster."

On the men's side, UBC will have all it's big guns firing for their home fans. Olympians Yuri Kisil and Markus Thormeyer appear poised to perform sd they did in 2016-17, when they led the UBC men to the U SPORTS championships. Added to the mix for the 2017-18 season will be Josiah Binnema, who has excelled in previous years on both the U SPORTS and world stage. After taking a year off from varsity competition, Binnema is back with the Thunderbirds and is coming off the Rocky Mountain Cup meet that saw him break the meet record in the 100-metre backstroke.

"This three swim meet series will set us up well for Canada West Championships later next month in Victoria in pursuit of another conference championships," added Price. "We are happy where both teams are at the moment but we know we have a long way to go in pursuit of the National Championships."

The Odlum Brown Colleges Cup gets going Saturday morning at the UBC Aquatic Centre.

Saturday, November 4, 2017

Preliminaries: Warm-up 09:00 – 10:20 | Start 10:30
Finals: Warm up 16:00 – 17:20 | Start 17:30

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Preliminaries: Warm-up 07:30 – 08:50 | Start 09:00
Finals: Warm up 13:30 – 14:50 | Start 15:00