The final stop of the 2025 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup was nothing short of electric this past weekend, as world records fell and Olympic champions battled through blistering short-course meters racing from October 23-25. Among the elite international field, several of SFU Swimming's current student-athletes and alumni took to the deck, representing SFU with pride and standout swims against the world's best.
 
Leading the way was alumna and current assistant coach Tori Meklensek, who impressed in her first international outing since graduating last spring. Tori placed 6th in the 800m freestyle with a lifetime best of 8:38.35, touching inside the top six of a star-studded automatic final. She followed that up with another lifetime best, 4:12.23, for 8th in the 400m freestyle, marking a memorable weekend that highlighted her continued rise at the professional level. Meklensek also finished 18^th in the 200m freestyle.
 
First-year Hudson Frayn from Grande Prairie represented SFU at the international level for the first time. His strongest finish came from a lifetime best time in the 200m breaststroke (2:21.74, 35th), building on that with appearances in the 100m breast (37th) and 50m breast (45th) amid a stacked international heat sheet.
 
Senior Thomas Bakica from Whitehorse also lined up in all three breaststroke events, taking 30th in the 200m breast, 40th in the 100m, and 39th in the 50m, in his first international competition.
 
In the freestyle ranks, Luka Tomic, a junior from Kitchener, raced to 23rd in the 400m freestyle, while Owen Nicholson, a junior from Halifax, achieved a 24th-place finish in the 400m individual medley and 27th in the 400m freestyle, showing solid endurance.
 
Sophomore Keira Kennedy from Calgary posted a strong performance in the 800m freestyle, clocking 8:55.77 for 11th, her second-fastest career time. Meanwhile, Lukas Buck, a sophomore from Squamish, added depth in the backstroke events, touching 31st in the 50m, 29th in the 100m, and 25th in the 200m.
 
Melissa Adelman, competing as a redshirt this season, represented in the backstroke sprints, placing 33rd in the 100m and 41st in the 50m amidst deep fields featuring multiple World and Olympic finalists.
 
Across the board, the weekend showcased elite swimming at its finest. Athletes in Toronto witnessed multiple world records fall, as the sport's biggest names put on an unforgettable display of speed. Against that backdrop, SFU's swimmers seized the moment, collecting lifetime bests, learning from international experience, and gaining valuable confidence racing shoulder-to-shoulder with the fastest in the world.
 
The Red Leaf women are back in the water this weekend in Alaska against the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. The Red Leaf men and women will come together the following week to take on Grand Canyon University in Arizona.