Women’s Swimming News

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:

  1. UBC Thunderbirds – 918 points
  2. Calgary Dinos – 810.5 points
  3. Victoria Vikes – 547.5 points
  4. Manitoba Bisons – 273.5 points
  5. Lethbridge Pronghorns – 184.5 points

Men’s:

  1. Calgary Dinos – 924.5 points
  2. UBC Thunderbirds – 860 points
  3. Lethbridge Pronghorns – 361.5 points
  4. Victoria Vikes – 351 points
  5. Alberta Golden Bears – 342 points