Medical student and varsity swimmer Jeremy Kubik helped the University of Alberta men's swim team clinch second place overall at the Canada West Swimming Championships in Edmonton.
Kubik finished with a bronze medal in his best event, the 50-metre freestyle, finishing behind two University of British Columbia sprinters. Kubik is pleased he had a best time, 23.06 seconds, which is another school record.
"Still trying to get under that 23-second barrier," said Kubik. "Just barely missed it, but it's a best time in that event and lowering the school record, so it's good."
Kubik had a final exam the day the meet started, but true to his form he didn't let it sidetrack him.
"It was a tough week," said Kubik. "It's always tough to put in tonnes of hours of studying and get full rest too. I never really know how I'm going to swim."
Kubik took home the bronze in his individual event and silver in the men's 400-metre freestyle relay.
It was a good weekend for the Bears who finished behind the UBC Thunderbirds in the overall standings, an improvement from last year's third-place finish. UBC's women's team also finished in top spot with the Pandas racing to third.
"It was a great weekend," said Kubik. "We went in there with high expectations after great racing in the fall. We thought we might as well start 2012 off with a bang. It was great for the team."
The Bears and Pandas next big swim meet is the Canadian Interuniversity Swimming Championships which will be held the last weekend of February in Montreal.