Lori Melien of Whitby, a member of the Ajax Aquatic Club, had two third – place finishes in the Esso International swim meet and was part of the first – place relay team for Canada in a dual meet Sunday (Nov. 29) against the Soviet Union.
Melien was third behind U.S. swimmers in the 50 and 100 backstroke events in the Esso event at the Etobicoke Olympium. But she was more than pleased with her results in the 100.
She had a time of one minute 3.58 seconds for the distance. Winner Kristen Lineham had a time of one minute 2.33 seconds.
As a member of the Canadian 4X100 medley relay team, which defeated the Soviet Union, Melien went even faster in her specialty, beating her previous time by three quarters of a second.
“This will be a pointer as to where my training should go now,” says Melien, an Olympic games aspirant.
She began her competitive swimming career at the age of 9 in Brampton. In August 1982, the family moved to Whitby, and she began swimming with the Ajax Club, under coach Paul Meronen. At 11, Melien was a member of the Canadian youth team and represented Canada at a meet in Scotland. Since that time, she has been a member of the Canadian senior team and represented Canada at international meets in Germany, Sweden, Japan, Spain, and this past summer was a member of the medley relay team which won a silver medal at the Pan Pacific Games in Brisbane, Australia.
She was voted team captain at a dual meet against the U.S.A. She holds 35 provincial and national records for the four age groups she has completed in since beginning to swim competitively. This past summer in Calgary, she won her first national women’s title in the 100 – metre backstroke.
Her most exciting moment came during the winter of 1985, when the final short-course world rankings were published. Melien and a swimmer from Calgary were tied for the fastest time in the world for the 50-metre freestyle. She was only 13 years old at the time.
Melien is now in very hard training for what would be the thrill of her lifetime, to represent Canada at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea.
Melien, 15, is a Grade 10 student at Anderson Collegiate where she maintains a 90 per cent average, despite training 16 hours a week. She has not only joined, but is helping to train her high school swim team. What little spare time she has is usually spent relaxing with family and friends.
Her major accomplishments include a bronze medal in the 1985 Pan Pacific games in Japan (4X 100 medley relay); a member of 4 X 100 free relay team that placed fifth in the 1986 world acquatic championships in Spain, and a silver medal in the 1987 Pacific games in Australia (4X100 medley relay).
She is world ranked (top 50) in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 100 butterfly.
“I always had a goal of doing well, doing the best I can do”, she says.
