By Jim Morris

VANCOUVER _ For some swimmers travelling the road to the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, the recent Mel Zajac Jr. International swim meet was an important step on their Olympic journey.

The meet attracted 365 swimmers from across Canada and the northwestern U.S. to the University of British Columbia Aquatic Centre. Included in that number were eight members of Swimming Canada’s Olympic team, seven of whom who train at the High Performance Centre – Vancouver.

For some of the Olympic team members, it was their first competition since April’s Olympic Trials in Toronto. Swimming the Zajac meet was a welcome break after the tedium of weeks of hard training.

“There is no wrong way to swim this meet,” said Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson, who qualified to compete in the 200-metre individual medley in Rio. “You don’t read too much into it. It’s just a training meet.

“It’s not like you are expecting any spectacular times or anything. You just want to try to get in and see where you are at for this time in the season. For some people it’s no where near your best time and some people it’s close.”

Several of the Olympic swimmers like Markus Thormeyer and Yuri Kisil had competed at the Pro Swim Series event in Charlotte, N.C.

“I can compare my swims to last week and see if I have made any improvements,” said Thormeyer, who has qualified for the 4×100-m freestyle relay team.

“So far, there have been improvements. I am scaling where I am in training, which will help me going into the Olympics for what I need to do.”

Tom Johnson, a member of the Olympic coaching staff, said competition is always an important aspect of training.

“They have to compete in the same way they have to practise,” said Johnson, who also is head coach at the High Performance Centre – Vancouver.

“They actually need to do a rehearsal of their events and measure where they are in their training programs. This gives us a launch pad for the summer.”

Among the Olympic team members winning races at the Zajac meet was Thormeyer (200-m backstroke, 100-m butterfly, 400-m freestyle, 100-m backstroke); Kierra Smith (100-m breaststroke, 400-m individual medley, 200-m breaststroke); Kisil (200-m freestyle, 50-m butterfly, 100-m freestyle, 50-m freestyle); Seltenreich-Hodgson (200-m IM, 100-m, 50-m free); and Noemie Thomas (100-m fly).

Overall, Johnson was impressed with what he saw.

“They are where I think they should be,” he said.

Thormeyer’s time of three minutes, 58.85 seconds in the 400-m freestyle carved three seconds of his personal best.

“It’s an indicator his fitness level is as high as it’s ever been,” said Johnson.

Kisil has qualified for Rio in the 50-m and 100-m freestyle. He did some experimenting by using a parachute and doing some power exercises prior to his 100-m freestyle victory in Vancouver.

“It worked out decently,” he said. “Maybe we will do that more in the future.

“That’s one of the great things about this meet. It’s a great opportunity to work on things and try new things and see how they work.”

Johnson said the Zajac meet gave the coaches a chance to measure the athletes.

“It’s good to see where they are,” he said. “Are they tired? Are they fast or are they slow? Are they technically sound? What needs work?

“This is about taking it to another level in terms of getting reliable performance characteristics under various conditions . . . so they can go into the meet in Rio and feel they are as prepared as they possibility can be to perform.”

Seltenreich-Hodgson was satisfied with her meet.

“What I have taken away from this is I am in a lot better of a place than I have been in the past few years,” she said. “I always have a hard time coming back from the break after trials. I think I did a really smooth transition this time and my times are posting a lot better.”

Thormeyer, who is training for his first Olympics, said he feels confident in his racing.

“For me, this weekend is a good reference point of where I am,” he said. “I feel like what I’m doing right now is what I need to be doing heading into Rio. I’m confident Tom is also guiding me in the right direction.”

Johnson said the swimmers are heading in the right direction.

“The momentum is building,” he said. “When you get that momentum, confidence also builds.”