Source: Ben Matchett, Communications, U of C Athletics / Photo credit David Moll
CALGARY - With gold medals in seven of 10 events, the UBC
Thunderbirds men's and women's swim teams shot out to healthy leads
on the opening day of the Canada West Swimming Championships at the
University of Calgary Aquatic Centre Friday night.
After the distance swims and the "splash-and-dash" 50-metre stroke
events, the UBC men scored 218 points to hold a 55-point lead over
second-place Calgary (163), while the Thunderbird women also lead
the host Dinos by a 249-153 margin. Lethbridge holds the
third-place position on both sides.
While the Thunderbirds owned the top step of the podium most of the
night, they had to share it with the home side following the most
exciting race of the night, the men's 4 x 200-metre relay final.
The two old rivals went head-to-head, with Calgary owning a slight
lead through most of the splits. UBC rookie Jonathan Brown took the
anchor leg against the Dinos' Reid Scarrow, entering the pool with
a disadvantage of more than a second and a half – but the two
went stroke-for-stroke down the stretch, both touching the wall in
7:16.88 to tie for the gold medal. The time set a new Canada West
record in the event, breaking the 2002 mark set by a dominant UBC
team that included Olympians Brent Hayden and Brian Johns.
The excitement of the relay resulted in the second new conference
record of the night, with the first coming courtesy UBC's Coleman
Allen in the 50-metre butterfly, where he broke Kelly Aspinall's
2009 record by 13 hundredths in a time of 23.91.
Other Thunderbirds capturing gold on the opening day included
Savannah King in the 800-metre freestyle, Jonathan Brown in the
1500 free, and Sergey Holson in the 50 breaststroke. Sarah McLean
led a UBC sweep of the podium in the 50 backstroke, where she was
joined by Erin Stamp and McKenzie Summers, while the Thunderbird
women captured an easy relay victory with a nearly 14-second
advantage over second-place Calgary.
In addition to the men's relay, the Dinos captured two other gold
medals on the night. Sophomore Russell Wood topping the podium in
the 50-metre backstroke in a time of 24.87, while Fiona Doyle
overcame a slow start to edge UBC's Tera Van Beilen by just five
hundredths in the 50-metre breaststroke.
The remaining gold went to Alberta's Kendra Chernoff, who was
crowned champion in the women's 50-metre butterfly.
The 2014 Canada West swimming championships continue through the
weekend, with finals slated for 5 p.m. on Saturday and 3 p.m.
Sunday at the University of Calgary Aquatic Centre.
DAY 1 RESULTS
Women 800 Freestyle
1. Savannah King, UBC (8:36.65)
2. Lindsay Delmar, Calgary (8:49.70)
3. Nikki Macleod, Alberta (9:03.94)
Men 1500 Freestyle
1. Jonathan Brown, UBC, 15:27.04
2. Jon McKay, Victoria, 15:29.61
3. Tristan Cote, Calgary, 15:36.46
Women 50 Butterfly
1. Kendra Chernoff, Alberta, 27.53
2. Heather MacLean, UBC, 27.92
3. Charlotte Philpotts, UBC, 27.55
Men 50 Butterfly
1. Coleman Allen, UBC, 23.91 (Canada West record)
2. Dillon Perron, Manitoba, 24.64
3. Ryan Thornley, Lethbridge, 24.85
Women 50 Backstroke
1. Sarah McLean, UBC, 28.56
2. Erin Stamp, UBC, 29.22
3. Mckenzie Summers, UBC, 30.07
Men 50 Backstroke
1. Russell Wood, Calgary, 24.87
2. Joe Byram, Alberta, 25.65
3. Mitchell Benkic, UBC, 26.03
Women 50 Breaststroke
1. Fiona Doyle, Calgary, 31.41
2. Tera Van Beilen, UBC, 31.46
3. Rebecca Terejko, UBC, 31.70
Men 50 Breaststroke
1. Sergey Holson, UBC, 28.36
2. Nick Kostiuk, Alberta, 28.49
3. Dillon Perron, Manitoba, 28.61
Women 4x200 Freestyle Relay
1. UBC (Heather McLean, Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson, Brittney Harley,
Savannah King), 8:03.68
2. Calgary (Lindsay Delmar, Fiona Doyle, Tianna Rissling, Talia
Benson), 8:17.31
3. Alberta (Alana Wood, Kendra Chernoff, Nikki Macleod, Bobbie
Mielnichuk), 8:26.77
Men 4x200 Freestyle Relay
1. UBC (Stefan Milosevic, Coleman Allen, Justin Chan, Jonathan
Brown), 7:16.88 (Canada West record)
1. Calgary (David Woodman, Russell Wood, Bogdan Knezevic, Reid
Scarrow), 7:16.88 (Canada West record)
3. Alberta (Hunter Balch, Joe Byram, Evan Letkeman, Tom Krywitsky),
7:30.39
TEAM STANDINGS – After Day 1
WOMEN
1. UBC, 249 pts
2. Calgary, 153
3. Lethbridge, 113.5
4. Alberta, 108
5. Manitoba, 59
6. Victoria, 42.5
7. Regina, 25
MEN
1. UBC, 218 pts
2. Calgary, 163
3. Lethbridge, 128
4. Victoria, 105
5. Alberta, 94
6. Manitoba, 72
7. Regina, 52