VICTORIA – This weekend marks the final non-championship meet for four dominant swimmers in the University of Victoria Vikes swim program.

While they all come from different backgrounds and different upbringings, Victoria Mock, Eric Hedlin, Tabitha Craig and Kara Wilson are all glad they have arrived at the same spot this weekend.

The Vikes were the obvious choice for Wilson. It allowed her to study on the island, close to home (Nanaimo) and pursue a bachelor's degree in Marine Biology. The swim program was also top-notch.

"I was lucky that I didn't have a coach that pushed me too hard as a kid. I stayed interested in the sport even though I was barely qualifying for provincial meets in high school," said Wilson.

It's been quite the improvement for Wilson, who showed up at UVic and was given an early chance to swim on the 4x200-metre freestyle relay team when the Vikes hosted the 2017-18 Canada West Championships.

"Breaststroke is usually my go-to, but Peter gave me a chance to swim with our other freestylers in a big race. I didn't have the best splits going second on the team, but we had a great anchor, watched an incredible finish and we won bronze," said Wilson.

She hasn't had the opportunity to take home Canada West hardware since that epic comeback, but she has the chance to end her career on top of the Canadian swimming world with a medal in any of her four U SPORTS qualified events: 50m, 100m. 200m breaststroke and 200m individual medley.

Growing up further down the Malahat, two Vikes have the opportunity to end their careers in the same pool that they started swimming in as kids.

Raised in Saanichton, Tabitha Craig has worked her tail off to be in her current position with the Vikes.

Her parents placed her in a swim program after hearing rave reviews from Craig's cousins. Performing well in the sport all the way up, all it took was one quick email to the long tenured coach Peter Vizsolyi and she found a spot with her hometown university program – that, along with years of hard work and dedication.

Each year, Craig worked to shave seconds off her personal bests, striving to win Canada West hardware or to earn U SPORTS qualifying times. Unfortunately, that didn't happen in the first four years for Craig, who will be graduating with a degree in Kinesiology. She finally cracked a U SPORTS qualifying time last November in the 50m freestyle.

"That was one of the best moments I've had with the Vikes. To finally accomplish that was something special," said Craig, who will also be competing in the 100m, 200m and 400m free at the U SPORTS meet. "But other than that, I have enjoyed my time training and hanging out with my teammates on travel meets. Those were my favourite moments."

Craig isn't alone in cherishing the time in between meets with her swim partners.

"I've had a great time with all my teammates and am glad to graduate with all of them. Our training trips to Arizona and the ability to enjoy some of the hard training sessions are things I will miss with this group," said Mock.

Mock and her family moved from Tokyo, Japan when she was nine. Arriving in Victoria, she followed her older siblings' footsteps and enrolled into the Pacific Coast Swimming, an affiliated program with the Vikes.

She was drawn to the open water swimming and enjoyed training with coach Ron Jacks, who helped facilitate her transition into the Vikes program.

But a few years into her career as a Vike, Mock lost the passion she once had for the sport and left the team after her third year.

With the newfound free time, she studied abroad in a town just outside Madrid, Spain, and took an internship in Israel working for a sports technology company.

Returning from work and travel in Europe, Mock was helping out at Saanich Commonwealth Place and saw the positive vibes return after being around her former teammates. That summer she started training again and made her way back to the Vikes.

"There was a time that I never thought I would graduate with this group. I thought I was done with the sport and it took me a while to realize that I wanted to come back. I'm glad I took a year off because I was able to accomplish a lot I wouldn't have been able to if I was swimming, but I'm also glad to graduate with this group of swimmers," said Mock, who will be graduating with a major in Pacific and Asian Studies along with a minor in Business.

Since entering the Vikes program, Mock has competed at several open water events at places such as Quebec, the Netherlands, Cozumel, Mexico; the Cayman Islands and Australia.

She also has a pair of Canada West medals to her credit. She won silver in the women's 800-metre freestyle and was a member of the 800m freestyle relay that claimed bronze in 2015.

After this weekend, Mock will be back at the U SPORTS meet racing in the 200m butterfly and 800m free.

Hedlin is no stranger to the U SPORTS stage and is looked at as a medal favourite in the 400m and 1,500m free. He also added the 200m to his list and is still determining what relay he will take part in.

Growing up in California, Hedlin's experience with the Vikes was different than his fellow graduating swimmers.

He attended UVic despite having scholarship offers from a few major National Collegiate Athletic Association schools down south mainly because it provided him the ability to train with who he wanted to and the way he wanted.

Hedlin immediately linked up with former Vike Ryan Cochrane and learned a lot in the distance swims from the former Olympian.

"I really enjoyed all the training sessions I had with the Vikes. I grew a lot as a swimmer and competed in some great races," said Hedlin, who graduated with a degree in Computer Science and is currently working on his masters in the same field of study.

The San Diego product burst onto the scene in 2014 by claiming U SPORTS gold in the 1,500m. After a two-year break from the Vikes, he returned and set the U SPORTS record in the 1,500m when he defended his title. He also added a U SPORTS gold in the 400m and was named the UVIC Male Athlete of the Year.

The accolades didn't end there. In the 2017-18 season, Hedlin started by taking gold in the Canada West in the 1,500m and snagged a silver in the 400m free. Later that year at the national meet, he took home silver in his signature event, the 1,500m free.

The engineering student got off to a great start in 2018-19 by claiming gold in the 1,500m and 400m free. He also added a bronze in the 4x200m freestyle relay. Last that year, he recaptured the U SPORTS gold in the 1,500m.

Hedlin has also turned into one of the world's best open water swimmers since he began with the Vikes. The Calgary-born product has been competing internationally with Team Canada since 2013 and has been with the Canadian High Performance Centre since 2011, where he trains with a few other members of the Vikes.

"The combination of training with Ryan, the Vikes and Ron Jacks has worked out great for me," said Hedlin.

In 2018, he was named Swimming Canada's Male Open Water Swimmer of the Year. He also won gold in the 10-kilometre race at the 2018 UANA Open Water Swimming Championships in the Cayman Islands, silver at the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships in the open water race and bronze in the 2019 FINA World Championships in the 5km open water race.

This weekend at the West Coast Classic isn't quite the final home race for these Vikes, but it's one of the last few chances to check out all the Vikes, not just the graduating ones.

For tickets or further information about the U SPORTS national meet, please visit our website.  

West Coast Classic race times are 6 – 8 p.m. tonight night and 9 – 11 a.m. on Sunday morning at Saanich Commonwealth Place.