VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds lead the way after the first day of 2024 Odlum Brown Canada West Swimming Championship competition that saw three individual conference records broken at the UBC Aquatic Centre.
"I couldn't be any more pleased with how our team is doing right now," said UBC head coach
Derrick Schoof. "We are right where we want to be. We're seeing good things in both our sprint events and our long-distance events. For tomorrow, we're going to see where we're at with some of our middle-distance events: the 100s and the 200s."
Through the first 10 events, the UBC women sit in first with 317 points ahead of Calgary with 276.5. Victoria (180.5), Alberta (168), and Lethbridge (114) round out the women's scoring after Day 1.
On the men's side of the competition the Thunderbirds also lead the way with 372 points. Calgary sits in second with 276, while Alberta is currently third with 178.5. Victoria (153.5) and Lethbridge (97) follow in the men's standings after the first night of finals in Vancouver.
The hosts started off the night strong with a UBC sweep in the women's 800m freestyle.
Emma O'Croinin touched the wall first at 8:29.61, smashing her prelim time by a whopping 13.18 seconds. Last year's gold medalist in the event,
Anna Dumont-Belanger, finished second with a time of 8:44.02, and rounding out the podium was
Brynne LeRoy in 8:50.38.
Olivier Risk repeated his gold in the men's 1500m freestyle, setting a new Canada West record with a time of 14:56.45. Paul McKenzie of the University of Alberta finished second in 15:16.55, while Thunderbird
Tanner Cole was third with a time of 15:16.90.
It was another Thunderbirds sweep in the women's 50m butterfly. Standout first-year T-Bird
Kayla Sanchez claimed the first spot in 25.88, while teammate
Brooklyn Wiens came second with a time of 27.22. Last year's silver medalist,
Sela Wist, clocked in just after at 27.53.
Finlay Knox stole the headlines in the men's 50m butterfly after breaking the Canada West record in both prelims and finals to walk away with the gold medal in a time of 23.06. Knox was joined on the podium by teammate
Kai Lilienthal (23.54) and Dinos swimmer Thomas Mcdonald (23.74).
One year after bringing home the silver medal in the women's 50m backstroke, UBC's
Bridget Burton earned gold with a time of 27.68.
Natascha Borromeo was second in 28.16, while Calgary's Hannah Johnsen finished third (28.36).
Back from redshirting to prepare for the Paris Olympics, UBC's
Blake Tierney claimed the men's 50m backstroke in 23.91. Returning to the podium for a second, Lilienthal earned the silver medal in 24.59. Canek Bracho touched the wall third in 24.81 to complete a third UBC sweep of the night.
In the women's 50m breaststroke, 2023 Canada West Swimmer of the Year Dinos sophomore Alexanne Lepage clocked in Calgary's first gold of the Championships with Canada West record-breaking time of 30.20.
Alicia L'Archeveque of UBC earned the silver medal in 30.59, while Isabella Duncan of Calgary got the bronze in 31.87.
Alberta claimed their first win of the night when Garrett Brendzan won the men's 50m breaststroke in 27.47. The Dinos picked up the second spot, with Stephen Moore finishing in 27.52, while UBC's
Justice Migneault was third in 27.53.
The Thunderbirds continued to show their dominance in the team relays, earning gold in both men's and women's 800m freestyle relay in times of 7:56.38 and 7:10.55, respectively.
Day 2 of the 2024 Odlum Brown Canada West Swimming Championships gets underway Saturday, with prelims beginning at 10 a.m. PT and finals at 5 p.m. PT.
VIEW TICKETS FOR THE 2024 ODLUM BROWN CW SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
A full schedule and live results for the event are available on the
event homepage.
All sessions will be available to stream live on
CanadaWest.TV.
Team Scores
WOMEN
UBC – 317
Calgary – 276.5
Victoria – 180.5
Alberta – 168
Lethbridge – 114
MEN
UBC – 372
Calgary – 276
Alberta – 178.5
Victoria – 153.5
Lethbridge - 97
