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Rising junior has success on international level for native country.

April 10, 2008

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - MacKenzie LeBlanc, a sophomore swimmer at the University of Notre Dame, finished third in the 200 Fly during last week's Canadian Olympic Trials which earned him a spot on the Canadian National `B' Team. That squad, known formally as the Tri-Nations Cup Team, will compete from July 29-Aug. 3 in Quebec City in an international meet, pitting Canada with France and Great Britain.

Coverage of the meet will be available at www.swimming.ca

"This is such a tremendous and exciting opportunity for MacKenzie," said Irish head coach Tim Welsh. "With Canada being his home country, he should be very proud to represent it on the international level. We're extremely happy for him, as this is an impressive achievement for him."

LeBlanc set a lifetime best by swimming 2:00.64 in the prelim heats of the 200m Fly, nearly three seconds faster than his previous best. He turned around and posted a time of 2:00.12 in the evening session, the third-best time of the session, which narrowly missed the cut to join the Canadian Olympic Team.

He was 12th in the 100m Fly with times of 56.39 and 56.02. LeBlanc also finished 22nd in the 200m Free among the field of 119, jetting through in 1:54.54.

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