Virginia's Hirniak Qualifies For Pan Pacific Swimming Championships

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July 28, 2006

MONTREAL – University of Virginia fourth-year swimmer Stefan Hirniak (Highland Park, N.J./Princeton Day) has qualified for the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships by finishing second in the 200-meter butterfly Thursday (July 27) at the Canadian Pan Pacific Trials. Hirniak clocked a time of 2:01.52 to win the silver and finish behind Adam Sioul at Jean-Drapeau Park.

Hirniak was the top qualifier for the finals by virtue of his preliminaries time of 2:02.30. Hirniak led for most of the final, but Sioul edged him by 24 hundredths of a second to take the top spot.

Hirniak will also compete in the 100-meter butterfly at the Canadian Pan Pacific Trials on Saturday (July 29). He is seeded 20th with a time of 56.88.

The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships will be held August 17-21 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Over 300 of the world’s top swimmers will be in Victoria for the Championships.

At the 2006 NCAA Championships in March, Hirniak earned honorable mention All-America accolades with an 11th-place finish in the 200 butterfly and was also a member of UVa’s 16th place 200 medley relay that earned honorable mention honors. Hirniak swam on two ACC Champion relays for the Cavaliers, the 800 free relay and the 400 medley relay. He was also runner-up in the 200 butterfly, while helping Virginia win its eighth consecutive ACC team title.