Less than two weeks after playing a key role in the Hyack Swim Club's narrow margin of victory at Swim B.C.'s AAA championships, Burnaby 17-year-old Stefan Milosevic is taking his game to a new level at the 2013 summer nationals in Pointe Claire, Que.
Milosevic kicked things off with a close win the men's 200 metre freestyle on the first night of competition, as the top four men were within eight-tenths of a second of one another - with just over two-tenths separating the top three swimmers. Milosevic's time of 1:51.18 was just under a second away from Brian Johns' 2000 provincial record of 1:50.34.
The Cariboo Hill Secondary student got right back to it during heats on Day 2, posting the second-fastest time of the day, blowing right past the 100m free Swim B.C. record of 2007 world champion, Brent Hayden, with a time of 51.41. Showing his great versatilty, Milosevic followed that up less than an hour later with a 4:29.67 400 individual medley, good enough to be seeded third heading into finals.
Two other B.C. swimmers posted a win on the first day of competition. Heather MacLean took the women's 200m free in 2:01.13, while 15-year-old Emily Overholt took the national title in the women's 200m butterfly in a time of 2:13.76.
For Milosevic and Overholt, their wins secured each of them a spot on Canada's world junior championships team, which will be held in Dubai in late August.
Swim B.C.'s other medalists on the first day of competition was Rohan Jacobs, who took the silver in the men's 50m fly, and Craig Dagnall, who finished third in the men's 800m free.
The meet continues through Saturday with prelimaries each day and finals getting underway later in the afternoon.
