Women’s Swimming
McGill swimmers sweep triple conference banners
In a battle for Canada West team banners and U SPORTS national championship berths, UBC Thunderbirds(918 points) and Calgary Dinos (924.5 points) were the teams to beat, picking up women’s and men’s team titles November 24-26 at the University of Lethbridge for the Canada West Championships.
The U SPORTS Swimming Championships hosted by the Victoria Vikes will be held February 23-25 at the Saanich Commonwealth Pool.
Day One:
Defending champions Calgary Dino (women’s) and UBC Thunderbirds (men’s) ranked second overall at the end of day one. Third-year Dino’s students Rebecca Smith and Stephen Calkin earned wins in the women’s and men’s 50-metre butterfly.
Youth would prevail for the T-Birds in the women’s and men’s 50-metre backstroke as freshmen Alicia L’Archeveque and second-year student Tierney Blake notched first-place finishes.
Day Two:
A clean sweep by the Dinos in the men’s 400-metre individual medley would highlight day two. Third-year student Nathan Versluys would finish with the top spot, followed by teammates Charlie Skalenda and Richie Stokes in second and third place, respectively.
Yasmin Perry had a strong showing for the Victoria Vikes in the 100-metre freestyle, clocking a time of 59 seconds. The freshman was the only swimmer to clock a time under a minute.
Another Vike, Lauren Crisp, captured a gold medal in the 200-metre backstroke with a time of 2:09.88, closely edging second-place finisher Hannah Johnsen’s time of 2:09.91.
The Lethbridge Horns earned victories in the 100-metre breaststroke and the 200-metre freestyle. Apollo Hess, a second-year student, swam 58.55 in the breaststroke, almost two seconds faster than UBC’s Justice Migneault, who earned second place. Raine Arden picked up the gold medal in the freestyle with a time of 1:48.42.
Day Three:
Hess and Blake add more gold medals to their collection. Horns’ Hess finished first in the 200-metre breaststroke and UBC’s Blake cruised to victory in the 100-metre backstroke.
Final team standings
Women’s:
- UBC Thunderbirds – 918 points
- Calgary Dinos – 810.5 points
- Victoria Vikes – 547.5 points
- Manitoba Bisons – 273.5 points
- Lethbridge Pronghorns – 184.5 points
Men’s:
- Calgary Dinos – 924.5 points
- UBC Thunderbirds – 860 points
- Lethbridge Pronghorns – 361.5 points
- Victoria Vikes – 351 points
- Alberta Golden Bears – 342 points