Swim BC congratulates Marcus Thormeyer, UBC Thunderbirds, on his Academic All-Canadian Top 8 selection. Announced by U Sports, Academic All-Canadians are student-athletes who have achieved an academic standing of 80 percent or higher while representing a varsity team. One female and one male student-athlete from each of the four U Sports conferences are selected to the Top 8 annually. Following is an article from U Sports.
(Rich Lam Photo)
From U Sports:
Named U SPORTS Male Swimmer of the Year for the second consecutive time last season, Markus Thormeyer dominated the pool with seven gold medals, setting two U SPORTS records in the process.
Thormeyer started the 2020 U SPORTS Championships with gold in the 200m freestyle and as part of UBC’s 4x100m freestyle relay team. He added two more podium finishes on Day 2, including the 100m backstroke with a new U SPORTS record time of 53.51, more than two seconds faster than the silver medalist from Calgary. His second record breaking performance of the meet came in the 200m backstroke with a time of 1:58.54, taking gold by more than three seconds.
With additional victories in the 100m freestyle and both the 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays, Thormeyer’s efforts went a long way to securing UBC’s fourth straight men’s U SPORTS national championship and fifth in the last six years.
In 28 career U SPORTS events, Thormeyer has captured 25 medals – all but two of them gold, while adding three consecutive CW titles and First Team All-Star honours.
Internationally, Thormeyer has represented Canada at several events including the 2015 Pan American Games, 2016 Olympics, 2017 FISU Summer Universiade, 2017 & 2019 FINA World Championships, and the 2018 Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships.
Since coming out publicly in February after initially confiding in his Rio Olympic teammates, Thormeyer has served as part of Canada’s OneTeam to promote 2SLGBTQQIA inclusion in sports. He is also a member of Swimming Canada’s Athlete’s Council, and helps lead UBC’s Student-Athlete Mental Health Initiative on-campus team.
“Markus is an inspiring choice to represent UBC and Canada West as part of this country’s group of Top 8 Academic All-Canadians,” said Kavie Toor, UBC Managing Director of Athletics & Recreation. “Not only is he one of the best in the pool on the national and international stage, Markus has worked just as hard to become an outstanding student at UBC, one of the globe’s highest-ranked schools, and a leader in raising awareness and building support for LGBTQ+ student-athletes.”
Thormeyer has also competed in the first two seasons of the International Swimming League (ISL), swimming for the New York Breakers in 2019 and the expansion Tokyo Frog Kings last fall.
He is the 12th Thunderbird to be recognized as a member of the Top 8 – the first since soccer star Chad Bush and fellow swimmer Rebecca Terejko swept the CW honours in 2015-16. Other UBC men’s swimmers honoured include Mark Versfeld (2000-01) and John MacArthur (1995-96).
December 28th the Ministry of Health updated the province-wide restrictions for sport with the following clarifications and amended definitions:
“Adult team sport” has been revised to “group sport”: Group sport is defined as sporting activity involving more than one person and includes training and practice for an individual or a team sport, but does not include sport for children or youth, varsity sport or high-performance athlete sport. Group sport (i.e. sport for those 22 years of age or older) is only permitted in groups of up to two people (e.g. singles tennis or an athlete and a coach training session). Outdoor group sport is only permitted in groups of up to four people (e.g. four individuals may run together or four individuals could run soccer drills). All participants must maintain a distance of three metres from one another while participating in the sport activity. While this order provides clarity, it is important to remember the intent is to limit group gathering. For example, individuals should not be playing a sport with four people and then switching teams to another group of four during the same time slot.
Swim BC impact: Master swimming activities are still suspended. Registered swimmers aged 19 – 21 are now permitted to train with Swim BC Club programs
Travel to home club: Individuals are permitted to travel to their home club for the purpose of sport. Home club is defined as the sport organization, club, or facility at which a person is registered for ongoing sport programming. Individuals should not carpool with other participants.
High performance exemption: High performance athletes are individuals who have been identified to a targeted athlete list with the Canadian Sport Institute Pacific by their respective Provincial Sport Organization or National Sport Organization. A person, who is a high-performance athlete who is already training in B.C. may train, compete and travel for that purpose if they follow the COVID safety protocols of their respective provincial or national sport organization.
Sport for children and youth means an activity which is delivered by a provincial sport organization or a local sport organization and may include participants who are under 22 years of age but does not include varsity sports. The PHO Order for Events and Gatherings differentiates between adult and youth sport activities.
Swim BC impact: As stated above, registered swimmers age 19 – 21 are now permitted to re-join their Swim BC Club in training activities.
Intercollegiate varsity sport exemption: Varsity sport is defined in the order as a sport for which the eligibility requirements for participation are established by a national association for the regulation of intercollegiate athletics, or which is designated as a varsity sport program by a post-secondary institution. Individuals of any age may participate in varsity sport if they are a member of a varsity sport team and they only train or practice with the post-secondary institution with which they are enrolled. Varsity sport, at this time, needs to follow viaSport’s Return to Sport Guidelines (i.e. maintain three metres physical distance and travel is limited the athlete’s respective post-secondary institution).
Swim BC impact: All registered varsity programs may return to training while maintaining adherence to Swim BC Return to Swimming Guidelines (physical distancing revised to three metres at all times)
If you have questions, please reach out to Swim BC. Happy New Year.
As the year is coming to a close, we would like to recognize the Provincial & National Records set during the first quarter of our 2020-2021 season. These athletes have persevered through uncertain times, and we would like to congratulate them on their hard work.
Laon Kim (HYACK)
11-12 Men 200m Freestyle SCM
1:59.58
National Record
Lucas Kim (HYACK)
11-12 Men 400m Freestyle SCM
4:15.26
National Record
Markus Thormeyer(UBCT)
Senior Men 200m Backstroke SCM
1:50.27
National Record
HYACK Swim ClubKim L., Yang B., Chan A., Kim L.
11-12 Men 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay
8:44.40
National Record
HYACK Swim ClubOrogo P., Jung J., Zhang H., Wang M.
13-14 Men 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay
1:40.53
HYACK Swim ClubOrogo P., Zhang H., Jung J., Wang M.
13-14 Men 4 x 100m Medley Relay
4:00.67
Congratulations! We cannot wait to see more records fall in the New Year.
The purpose of this bulletin is to provide the Swim BC membership with timely interpretation of the Public Health Order announced by the PHO December 2nd and followed up by the publication of the Order December 3 at 11:30 am. The content of this bulletin is a result of Swim BC interpretation of the Public Health Order, an emergency interpretation meeting with viaSport and a specific one on one consult by Swim BC Executive Director with viaSport. Please note that viaSport is now part of an interpretation committee that meets directly with the BCCDC. Sport has been instructed to adhere to the intent of the Order.
The following is in effect immediately and until such time as is repealed by the Provincial Heath Officer.
Age group (youth sport) swimming
Swimming for children and youth (under 19) is permitted if the following conditions are met:
a) Participants maintain a physical distance of three (3) metres
b) There are no spectators unless the presence of a spectator is necessary in order to provide care to a child or youth.
c) The focus is on activities that have a low risk of COVID-19 virus transmission
For clarity, the intent of the order is to move to skills and drills type activities and to suspend activity that draw people together. To that end, all sanctioned and unsanctioned time trials involving any number of officials, volunteers or additional coaches are suspended.Master’s (adult sport) swimming
The PHO order is confusing with regard to individual adult sports. The intent of the order is to stop all adult sport activity where participants come together to pursue that activity. Adult sport is defined as all activities for 19 years and older and includes individuals under 19 that participate with that cohort.
For clarity, all masters swimming club activity and all varsity swimming activity is suspended.
Clarification regarding the use of masks
In a previous bulletin we stated “Swimmers are required to wear a mask when entering the facility, in the changing rooms and standing on deck.“
To clarify, a person who is less than 12 years of age is exempt from use of a face covering. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused clubs attempting to enforce this interpretation.
Reminder regarding the requirement to report incidences of COVID-19 contraction in a Swim BC club environment.
viaSport has formally requested all sports to report incidences of COVID transmission. If a Swim BC club suspects a potential exposure to COVID-19 during their activities; (1) always report this to your local health authority immediately as required as stated in the Swim BC Return to Swimming Guidelines. (2) Please also any incidences to Swim BC as viaSport now requires we report sport exposure.
When reporting an incidence please consider providing the following information:
Please describe the situation and communication with your Regional Health Authority
Describe who informed you of the exposure including any issues and outcomes;
Please include any information you feel will be useful including:
Date
Time
Location
Facility
We are looking for general information that will help describe the exposure. We also ask that you respect the privacy of your member and not disclose names or other personal information. Exposure reports can be sent to Sam Thoms, who will report them to viaSport on your behalf.
This program is intended to be an opportunity for all clubs in BC to share performances, whether they be from a sanctioned time trial, a race rehearsal in workout, a get-out swim or one a last rep in a descending set. Coaches are encouraged to submit any times; Swim BC will rank and publish daily (or as best we can, pending a high volume of submissions)
To view the Rankings, visit the Results Page.
For more information including eligibility and how to submit time check out the O.U. Rankings Announcement.
