Recap: Day 3 of the 2024 U SPORTS Men's Swimming Championships

Freshman Bill Dongfang of Victoria, B.C., broke a meet record and produced a pair of gold medals with three silvers, as the Toronto Varsity Blues captured the Nelson C. Hart Trophy for the 18th national title in team history at the U SPORTS swim championships, Saturday.

The three-day event, hosted by McGill University for the first time since 1979, concluded before a capacity crowd at the Pointe Claire Aquatic Centre.

The result halted UBC's six-year reign as national champs and gave Toronto a sweep of both team titles. It marked the Blues first U SPORTS swim banner since 2016 when they also swept the men's and women's crowns.

Toronto finished first of 28 competing schools with 1,145 total points, while Calgary (922.5) claimed silver and McGill (893) surged past UBC for the bronze medal position. The Thunderbirds placed fourth (867.5) and Ottawa (516.5) rounded out the top five.

U of T led all teams with 19 podiums, striking gold five times, in addition to a meet-high 10 silver medals and four bronzes. UBC was the next closest squad in the medal count with a 5-2-5 breakdown, respectively, while Calgary was third (2-6-3), followed by McGill (2-2-2) and Ottawa (3-0-0). Other teams to win gold were Lethbridge and Memorial.

Dongfang broke the long-course record in the 200 butterfly (2:00.17) to surpass the previous mark of 2:00.41 set by Ottawa's Davide Casarin in 2019. Dongfang also won the 100 butterfly in addition to collecting silvers in the 200 free and a pair of relays (4x100 MR and 4x200 free).

The only other men's meet record to fall over the weekend was by Memorial's Chris Weeksof Mount Pearl, Newfoundland-Labrador, who produced golden and silver performances and was named as U SPORTS rookie of the year. He was clocked at 23.90 in the 50 butterfly to erase the 2015 mark of 24.04 set by UBC's Coleman Allen. Weeks was second in the 100 free.

UBC's Hugh McNeill, a native of Langley, B.C., won a meet-high seven medals and was named swimmer of the year, based on his top performances at the championship. 

"It was a big surprise because there's a ton of great swimmers on all the other teams," said the humble 6-foot-4, 185-pound applied science junior who collected three gold medals and four bronzes. "I feel like even on my team, I might not have picked myself for this award."

Other major award winners included Dalhousie's Noah Mascoll-Gomes (Student-athlete Community Service Award), and Toronto's Byron MacDonald (Fox 40 coach of the year).

"Obviously I'm ecstatic about sweeping the two (banners)," said MacDonald in his 48th year with the Blues. "We started at the beginning of the year with goals and both our men and women felt very strongly that they could win a national championship.  I did the math and thought, well maybe, it would be close but there was a chance… There were a few hiccups during the year but we came here and executed… On the men's side, it kind of went according to the script, The guys turned it on from Day 1 and never looked back.

"To be honest, after Day 1, when we were down by over 100 points with the women, I wasn't so sure that we'd be able to dig out of that. (I don't think) that any team ever has done that in the past. So it was quite gratifying to see us (accomplish that)… There was a little extra pressure on the women's team because we had won two in a row… But they were really keen on winning this one because 10 of the 18 women were graduating and I've never had a graduating class that was this huge… so it was nice to be able to go out on top with this group. It's a pretty big legacy that they're leaving behind."

Ottawa's Hugo Lemesle matched McNeill with a triple golden weekend, while other multiple golden efforts were produced by McGill's Pablo Collin (two golds, one silver) and Calgary's Stephen Calkins (two golds, one bronze).

Gold medalists earn first-team All-Canadian honours, while silver medal winners merit second-team status. See complete list of medal winners below.

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

WOMEN: 1. Toronto, 1,444 points; 2. UBC, 1,300.5 points; 3. Calgary, 872.5; 4. McGill, 788.5; 5. Western, 363.5; 6. Victoria, 222.5; 7. McMaster, 211.5; 8. Alberta, 200; 9. Manitoba, 193.5; 10. Waterloo, 166; 11. Dalhousie, 156; 12. Acadia, 135; 13. Lethbridge, 134; 14. Montréal, 125; 15. Guelph, 94; 16. Ottawa, 91; 17. Laval, 90; 18. Sherbrooke, 41; 19. Brock, 36; 20. Regina, 25.5; 21. Mount Allison, 5; 22. Queen's, 2.

MEN: 1. Toronto, 1,145 points; 2. Calgary, 922.5; 3. McGill, 893; 4. UBC, 867.5; 5. Ottawa, 516.5; 6. Western, 357; 7. Alberta, 345; 8. Waterloo, 227; 9. Laval, 216.5; 10. Victoria, 191.5; 11. McMaster, 156; 12. Dalhousie, 129; 13. Lethbridge, 125; 14. Laurier, 93; 15. York, 90; 16. Memorial, 74; 16. Carleton, 72; 18. Manitoba, 41.5; 19. Sherbrooke, 58; 20. Acadia, 51; 21. (tie) UQTR and Montréal, 37; 23. Regina, 28; 24. Mount Allison, 12; 25. UNB, 11.

RECORDS BROKEN:

WOMEN:

50m breaststroke (short course, set during qualifying): Shona Branton, Western, 30.34 seconds (Old record: 30.45 by Kelsey Wog of Manitoba in 2022).

50m breaststroke (long course): Shona Branton, Western, 30.84 seconds (Old record: 31.11 by Fiona Doyle in 2015)

MEN:

200m butterfly (long course): Bill Dongfang, Toronto, 2:00.17 (Old record: 2:00.41 by Davide Casarin of Ottawa in 2019).

50m butterfly (long course): Chris Weeks, Memorial, 23.90 seconds (Old record: 24.04 by Coleman Allen of UBC in 2015).

MAJOR AWARD WINNERS:

WOMEN:

Team Champions: Toronto

Swimmer of the Meet: Shona Branton, Western

Rookie of the Year: Alexanne Lepage, Calgary

Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Mahaylia Datars, Toronto

Fox 40 Coach of the Year: Derrick Schoof, UBC

MEN:

Nelson C. Hart Trophy (team champions): Toronto

Swimmer of the Meet: Hugh McNeill, UBC

Rookie of the Year: Chris Weeks, Memorial

Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Noah Mascoll-Gomes, Dalhousie

Fox 40 Coach of the Year: Byron MacDonald

ALL-CANADIANS 

First-team: all gold medalists

Second-team: all silver medalists

GRAND SLAM: no winners.

SUPER GRAND SLAM: no winners.

INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS:

DAY 3 (March 9, 2024)

WOMEN

200 butterfly: 1. Nina Mollin, Toronto, 2:16.53; 2. Lora Willar, UBC, 2:19.21; 3. Hayley French, Calgary, 2:19.51.

50 breaststroke: 1. Shona Branton, Western, 30.84 (U SPORTS record); 2. Alexanne LePage, Calgary, 31.53; 3. Eloise Allen, UBC, 32.01.

100 freestyle: 1. Ainsley McMurray, Toronto, 55.67; 2. Lily Chubaty, Toronto, 57.26; 3. Anna Dumont-Belanger, UBC, 57.29.

200 backstroke: 1. Bridget Burton, UBC, 2:13.33; 2. Haley Klenk, Toronto, 2:15.73; 3. Katelyn Schroeder, Toronto, 2:16.54.

800 freestyle: 1. Anna Dumont-Belanger, UBC, 8:59.50; 2. Anna Hein, Toronto, 9:04.47; 3. Emily De Jager, Calgary, 9:04.92.

4 x 100 medley relay: 1. Toronto (Katelyn Schroeder, Shannon Russell, Nina Mollin, Ainsley McMurray), 4:11.04; 2. Calgary (Hannah Johnsen, Alexanne LePage, Hayley French, Hannah Bennett), 4:11.78; 3. Western (Leah Butler, Shona Branton, Gabriella Casasanta, Danielle Treasure), 4:15.73.

MEN

200 butterfly: 1. Bill Dongfang, Toronto, 2:00.17 (U SPORTS record); 2. Benjamin Loewen, Toronto, 2:00.85; 3. Kevin Zhang, Waterloo, 2:01.54.

50 breaststroke: 1. Hugo Lemesle, Ottawa, 28.24 seconds; 2. Tristan Bennett, Lethbridge, 28.32; 3. Gabe Mastromatteo, Toronto, 28.33.

100 freestyle: 1. Stephen Calkins, Calgary, 50.51 seconds; 2. Chris Weeks, Memorial, 50.57; 3. Luke Stewart-Bender, Western, 50.90.

200 backstroke: 1. Hugh McNeill, UBC, 2:00.21; 2. Richie Stokes, Calgary, 2:03.82; 3. Benjamin Loewen, Toronto, 2:03.87.

1,500 freestyle: 1. Olivier Risk, UBC, 15:42.62; 2. Liam Clawson-Honeyman, UBC, 15:45.84; 3. Diego Paz, Alberta, 15:50.24.

4 x 100 medley relay: 1. UBC (Hugh McNeill, Ethan Hemeon, Siu Lun Ho, Jake Gaunt), 3:43.23; 2. Toronto (Andrew Herman, Gabe Mastromatteo, Bill Dongfang, Jack Li) 3:43.40; 3. Calgary (Richie Stokes, Ian Cameron, Thomas McDonald, Stephen Calkins), 3:44.60.

DAY 2 (March 8, 2024)

WOMEN

50 freestyle: 1. Ainsley McMurray, Toronto, 25.68 seconds; 2. Julianne Moore, Calgary, 26.14; 3. Shaunna Walker-Dejong, McMaster, 26.44.

200 breaststroke: 1. Alexanne LePage, Calgary, 2:27.92; 2. Shona Branton, Western, 2:31.12; 3. Amaris Peng, UBC 2:31.71.

400 freestyle: 1. Anna Hein, Toronto, 4:22.48; 2. Naomie Lo, McGill, 4:22.71; 3. Mahaylia Vatars, Toronto, 4:23.09.

100 backstroke: 1. Bridget Burton, UBC, 1:02.16; 2. Katelyn Schroeder, Toronto, 1:02.63; 3. Haley Klenk, Toronto, 1:02.76.

200 individual medley: 1. Nina Mollin, Toronto, 2:18.35; 2. Anna Dumont-Belanger, UBC, 2:18.50; 3. Emma Spence, UBC, 2:18.72.

50 butterfly: 1. Eloise Allen, UBC, 26.86; 2. Anaïs Arlandis, Montréal, 27.63; 3. Ainsley McMurray, Toronto, 27.85.

4x200 freestyle relay: 1. UBC (Anna Dumont-Belanger, Brooklyn Wiens, Jade Lo, Rosalie Davidson), 8:21.95; 2. Calgary (Alexanne LePage, Hannah Johnsen, Marit Anderson, Emily deJager), 8:25.42; 3. Toronto (Hailey Klenk, Teagan McKenzie, Mahaylia Vatars, Ainsley McMurray), 8:27.95.

MEN

50 freestyle: 1. Liam Weaver, Toronto, 22.72 seconds. 2. Malachy Belkhelladi, McGill, 23.04; 3. Allen Zheng, Waterloo, 23.06.

200 breaststroke: 1. Hugo Lemesle, Ottawa, 2:14.80; Jacob Gallant, Toronto, 2:18.77; Ethan Hemeon, UBC, 2:18.47.

400 freestyle: 1. Liam Clawson-Honeyman, UBC, 3:58.16; 2. Nathan Versluys, Calgary, 3:58.43; 3. Mats Baradat, McGill 3:59.51.

100 backstroke: 1. Hugh McNeill, UBC, 55.44 seconds; 2. Andrew Herman, Toronto, 55.84; 3. Richie Stokes, Calgary, 56.55.

200 individual medley: 1. Benjamin Loewen, Toronto, 2:03.66; 2. Charlie Skalenda, Calgary, 2:05.32; 3. Jacob Gallant, Toronto, 2:05.72.

50 butterfly: 1. Chris Weeks, Memorial, 23.90 seconds (new U SPORTS record); 2. Siu Lun Ho, UBC, 24.23; 3. Hazem Issa, McGill, 24.44.

4x200 freestyle relay: 1. McGill (Artiom Volodin, Pablo Collin, Bruno Dehem-Lemelin, Mats Baradat), 7:32.29; 2. Toronto (Max Tambling, Jack Li, Brendan Oswald, Bill Dongfang), 7:32.99; 3. UBC (Hugh McNeill, Olivier Risk, Liam Clawson-Honeyman, Jake Gaunt), 7:33.68.

DAY 1 (March 7, 2024)

WOMEN

50 freestyle: 1. Ainsley McMurray, Toronto, 25.68 seconds; 2. Julianne Moore, Calgary, 26.14; 3. Shaunna Walker-Dejong, McMaster, 26.44.

200 breaststroke: 1. Alexanne LePage, Calgary, 2:27.92; 2. Shona Branton, Western, 2:31.12; 3. Amaris Peng, UBC 2:31.71.

400 freestyle: 1. Anna Hein, Toronto, 4:22.48; 2. Naomie Lo, McGill, 4:22.71; 3. Mahaylia Vatars, Toronto, 4:23.09.

100 backstroke: 1. Bridget Burton, UBC, 1:02.16; 2. Katelyn Schroeder, Toronto, 1:02.63; 3. Haley Klenk, Toronto, 1:02.76.

200 individual medley: 1. Nina Mollin, Toronto, 2:18.35; 2. Anna Dumont-Belanger, UBC, 2:18.50; 3. Emma Spence, UBC, 2:18.72.

50 butterfly: 1. Eloise Allen, UBC, 26.86; 2. Anaïs Arlandis, Montréal, 27.63; 3. Ainsley McMurray, Toronto, 27.85.

4 x 200 freestyle relay: 1. UBC (Anna Dumont-Belanger, Brooklyn Wiens, Jade Lo, Rosalie Davidson), 8:21.95; 2. Calgary (Alexanne LePage, Hannah Johnsen, Marit Anderson, Emily deJager), 8:25.42; 3. Toronto (Hailey Klenk, Teagan McKenzie, Mahaylia Vatars, Ainsley McMurray), 8:27.95.

MEN

50 freestyle: 1. Liam Weaver, Toronto, 22.72 seconds. 2. Malachy Belkhelladi, McGill, 23.04; 3. Allen Zheng, Waterloo, 23.06.

200 breaststroke: 1. Hugo Lemesle, Ottawa, 2:14.80; Jacob Gallant, Toronto, 2:18.77; Ethan Hemeon, UBC, 2:18.47.

400 freestyle: 1. Liam Clawson-Honeyman, UBC, 3:58.16; 2. Nathan Versluys, Calgary, 3:58.43; 3. Mats Baradat, McGill 3:59.51.

100 backstroke: 1. Hugh McNeill, UBC, 55.44 seconds; 2. Andrew Herman, Toronto, 55.84; 3. Richie Stokes, Calgary, 56.55.