Men’s Swimming
TOP 10 TUESDAY: Brock reclaims wrestling polls ahead of national championships
The UBC Thunderbirds men and women will both be looking to defend their national championship and capture consecutive titles at the 2018 U SPORTS Swimming Championships this week.
UBC, which won both the men’s and women’s 2017 U SPORTS Swimming Championships last year in Sherbrooke, Que., have been the top-ranked swimming program in both the men’s and women’s program’s all season long. The Thunderbirds men will be going for their 16th title in program history, hoping to break their second-place tie with Calgary and inch closer to Toronto’s total of 19. The UBC women are already the most successful program in history with 21 national titles, six more than second place Toronto (15). Among the field are seven Olympians from Rio 2016 who will be representing three different schools at the championship.
The 2018 U SPORTS Swimming Championships, hosted by the University of Toronto for the third time since 2019 runs Feb.22-24 at the Athletic Centre Pool.
A championship schedule and conference by conference previews are available below.
Canada West
Men
- Conference champion: UBC Thunderbirds
- Last U SPORTS Championship: 2017
- Total U SPORTS Championships: 15
Women
- Conference champion: UBC Thunderbirds
- Last U SPORTS Championship: 2017
- Total U SPORTS Championships: 21
The UBC Thunderbirds men claimed their 18th overall and fifth-straight Canada West title after winning 28 medals, 10 of which were gold, at the CW Swimming Championships hosted at the Commonwealth Pool in Victoria in late November. UBC’s Yuri Kisil was named male Swimmer of the Meet, with five gold medals and two silver. Calgary’s Frederik Kamminga won the gold medal in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, earning him male Rookie of the Meet honours. Kisil and teammate Markus Thormeyer are both Olympians who will be competing at the national championships.
For the women’s competition, UBC dominated the field with 35 medals, 14 of those gold. Their 1,111 points also broke the record for the highest overall conference point total for a women's team. Despite UBC breaking overall team records, the female Swimmer of the Meet was Manitoba’s Kelsey Wog, last season’s Rookie of the Meet. This year she won six medals, including three gold, and broke two CW records. UBC’s Emily Overholt and Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson represented Canada in Rio and will hope to lead their team to another national title.
Men's 50m Freestyle Finals:@Yuri_Kisil collects GOLD and sets new @CanadaWest record by finishing with 21.78. Fellow Thundebird @L_Peddie (22.74) brings home Silver. #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/SCg9dZaK29
— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) November 26, 2017
OUA
Men
- Conference champion: Toronto Varsity Blues
- Last U SPORTS Championship: 2016
- Total U SPORTS Championships: 19
Women
- Conference champion: Toronto Varsity Blues
- Last U SPORTS Championship: 2016
- Total U SPORTS Championships: 15
For the fifth straight year the Varsity Blues swept the OUA Swimming Championships, taking both the men's and women's banners competition held at the Western Student Recreation Centre.
This was the 15th straight conference title for the Toronto men’s swimming team. Fifth-year Eli Wall earned a Grand Slam in the 200m breaststroke, recognizing his four gold medals within the single event during his OUA career. The men’s Swimmer of the Year award was given to Ottawa’s Davide Casarin.
On the women’s side, Toronto’s Kylie Masse continued to collect hardware with two Grand Slams (50m and 100m backstroke) to earn OUA female Swimmer of the Year. Masse won a bronze medal in the 2016 Rio Games and holds the world record in the 100m backstroke. Her coach Byron McDonald also won women’s Coach of the Year honours. McMaster’s Olivvya Chow set a new OUA record while winning the 50m breaststroke, and adding a pair of silver medals.
#UofT Sweep! Eli Wall and @Kjmasse have been named the OUA male and female athletes of the week following dominant performances at the OUA championships this past weekend in London! WE ALL #BLEEDBLUE #WeAreTO
— U of T Varsity Blues (@Varsity_Blues) February 13, 2018
Read the link to find out why they won: https://t.co/VEBDcPPW1u pic.twitter.com/YYKhlnK3Mt
RSEQ
Men
- Conference champion: McGill Redmen
- Last U SPORTS Championship: 1972
- Total U SPORTS Championships: 1
Women
- Conference champion: Montreal Carabins
- Last U SPORTS Championship: Never
The McGill men’s team comes into the national meet having captured their first RSEQ swimming championship since 2003. Samuel Wang and Bradley Crocker each won four gold medals to help their team reach the top of the standings, while Montreal’s Pierre Rouault earned himself the championship meet MVP award with four gold medals and six overall. Sherbrooke’s Jonathan Naisby also won a trio of medals en route to being awarded the men’s Athlete of the Year.
The women’s championship was won handily by Montreal, who have two Olympic swimmers on their roster in Katerine Savard and Sandrine Mainville. Mainville won every event she competed in, collecting six gold medals, along with the female Athlete of the Year and meet MVP awards. Meanwhile, Savard won four gold and two silver and Sophie Marois, also with Montreal, won five gold medals and one bronze.
S'il y avait un titre d'athlète de la semaine de la Voie Lactée, @sandy_mainville le mériterait.
— Carabins (@Carabins) February 6, 2018
En attendant, elle est l'athlète ? de la semaine du @RSEQ1
Les détails ?? https://t.co/WnpZefy0zh#TousCarabins pic.twitter.com/ksaQ4lWPhb
AUS
Men
- Conference champion: Dalhousie Tigers
- Last U SPORTS Championship: Never
Women
- Conference champion: Dalhousie Tigers
- Last U SPORTS Championship: Never
The Dalhousie swimming program reigned supreme once again in AUS competition as the Tigers won their 20th consecutive men's championship and their 17th straight women's title at the 2018 Subway AUS Swimming Championships in Saint John.
Dalhousie’s Claire Yurkovich won three gold medals, winning the women's 800m freestyle and 200m backstroke, and was part of the Tiger’s 4x100m medley relay winning team. The Tigers’ Isabel Sarty took home swimmer and rookie of the meet honour. Memorial's Jasmine Foran took home two gold and a silver, winning the women's 50m breaststroke and 200m individual medley.
In the men’s competition, Brett Liem of Acadia was named the top male swimmer, winning gold in the 50m breaststroke but lost by just six one-hundredths of a second in the men's 100m freestyle to Mount Allison’s Geraint Berger.
Congrats to @AcadiaSwimming gold medal winners at the @AUS_SUA championship including Jessica Pelletier gold in 100m backstroke, Brett Liem gold in 50m butterfly and freestyle, Adam Deutsch gold in 200m breaststroke and Kelsea Vessey gold in 200m butterfly pic.twitter.com/cXPxRGtfLk
— Acadia Athletics (@AcadiaAthletics) February 11, 2018
Championship Schedule
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21ST
- Media Availability – 11:30 am ET / 8:30 a.m. PT
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND
- Preliminaries – 10 a.m. ET / 7 a.m. PT
- Finals – 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23RD
- Preliminaries – 10 a.m. ET / 7 a.m. PT
- Finals – 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24TH
- Preliminaries – 10 a.m. ET / 7 a.m. PT
- 800m/1500m – 3:30 pm ET / 12:30 p.m. PT
- Finals – 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT
- Awards – 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT
Full race schedule available at USPORTS.ca