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Block, Darragh Named to Olympic Team

News –

OTTAWA – Calgary’s Jason Block and Mackenzie Darragh of Oakville, Ont., have had their tickets to Rio officially punched in.

FINA made the official announcement that Canada’s men’s 4×100-m medley relay qualified for the Olympic Games based off of the fastest times in the world from the qualifying period of March 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016.

Both swimmers won their events at the Canadian Olympic & Para-Swimming Trials in April, but missed the individual qualifying standards. The medley relay qualification was their final opportunity to earn an Olympic berth.

Block, 25, was victorious in the 100-m breaststroke with a time of 1:00.59, just 0.02 off of the standard. He won 11 CIS gold medals during his time at the University of Calgary, and represented Canada at the World University Games in 2013.

Darragh, 22, won the 100-m butterfly at Trials. He also took the 200-m butterfly and earned a bronze medal in the 200-m IM. This is the second senior national team for Darragh, who competed at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships in Gold Coast, Australia. He was also a bronze medallist at the 2011 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in the 200-m butterfly. At the 2015 NCAA Division I Championships, he established University of Missouri records in the 200-yard butterfly and 200-yard IM.

This will be the first Olympic Games for both Block and Darragh.