Men’s Swimming
From Team Canada to the Carabins: Olympians Savard and Mainville bring experience to U SPORTS Swimming Championships
SHERBROOKE, Que. (U SPORTS) – After three days of competition at the Sherbrooke University Sports Centre, the UBC Thunderbirds won top honours in almost all women's and men's events, winning both competitions in front of the University of Toronto, University of Montreal and University of Calgary.
The third and last evening of finals was the most exciting, with eight records set in 12 events. The 100m freestyle rendered the same results as the 50 freestyle, with the Mainville siblings of the Montreal Carabins winning double awards, and a new record for Sandrine set with a time of 52.62. Yuri Kisil of UBC torpedoed through the pool towards his fifth gold medal, with a new record of 46.94.
The 200m backstroke was another exciting event, with a third record set in as many events for Kylie Masse of Toronto, who shattered the mark by nearly four seconds, with a time of 2:02.80. Markus Thormeyer of UBC, meanwhile, crushed the 1997 U SPORTS Championship record with a time of 1:54.48 for his sixth medal.
The 400m freestyle champions - Danica Ludlow of the Calgary Dinos and Eric Hedlin of the University of Victoria confirmed their long distance dominance by winning the 800m and 1500m respectively, with Hedlin smashing the record by 10 seconds in a time of 14:42.99.
The UBC Thunderbirds continued to dominate the pool with two gold medals in the 200m medley and a new record of 2:08.09 for Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson, as well as the 50m breaststroke, while Warren Mayer exploded from seventh to first place, with a time of 27.32, only one tenth of a second off the record. Finally, the Thunderbirds confirmed their championship title with a breathtaking finish, winning the women's and men's 4x100m medley relay and establishing two new records - 3:58.66 for the women and 3:32.36 for the men.
Records
An impressive total of 20 new records were broken over the weekend, of which 14 were in individual events, and six in relays. In addition, two Canadian records were established by UBC athletes
Swimmers Kylie Masse of Toronto and Yuri Kisil of UBC were the Women's and Men's Swimmers of the Year, with the highest number of points at the end of the Championships.
“It's amazing! It is a great honour to be able to win this award among all the excellent swimmers who have delivered great performances throughout the weekend,” said Kisil. “It's a privilege - I had a lot of fun! Although I am a little surprised at this share of medals.”
Rookie of the year honours were awarded to Ingrid Wilm and Markus Thormeyer, both of the UBC Thunderbirds.
Other honours were:
- Student-Athlete Community Service Award (F) : Rachel Patterson, Brock University
- Student Athlete Community Service Award (M): Jagdeesh Uppal, Thompson Rivers University
- Coach of the Year, women’s team: Pierre Lamy, University of Montreal Carabins
- Coach of the Year, men’s team: Steve Price, UBC Thunderbirds
Medal count
Without surprise, the UBC Thunderbirds took home the most medals with a total of 38, including 13 gold medals, far ahead of the Toronto Varsity Blues and the University of Montreal Carabins. Half of the UBC medals were won by the three main men of the competition: Yuri Kisil with six gold medals, Markus Thormeyer, with six medals including four gold, and Coleman Allen with five medals. On the women’s side, the winner is Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson of the Thunderbirds, with seve medals, five of them gold, one more than Katerine Savard of the Montreal Carabins.