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2010 Canada West swimming championship preview
by Canada West Swimming Sports Information Offices
EDMONTON - The 2010 Canada West swimming championships take place January 22-24 at Max Bell Aquatic Centre, hosted by the University of Lethbridge.
The Calgary Dinos have won three consecutive Canada West men's swimming championship team titles and the last two CWUAA women's titles. The women won last year's CIS banner and the men's national crown in 2008, meaning the days of UBC overall dominance are well past, though the Thunderbirds are still national men's champs and remain the number one threat to Calgary at all levels.
The 2009-10 Calgary women's roster is loaded with veteran talent, including 2009 CIS Rookie of the Year and Sprint Cup champion Erica Morningstar, Canadian multi record-holder Katy Murdoch, quadruple FINA championship medalist Kevyn Peterson and other world-class swimmers who expect to claim team gold once again. The Dino men are anchored by a series of returning stars such as Dan Langlois, Colin Miazga and 2008-09 Rookie of the Year David Woodman, with freshman David Dimitrov now in the mix.
For the UBC Thunderbirds this is a season of change, as two-time CIS Swimmer of the Year Annamay Pierse and champion Haylee Johnson have moved on from the women's team and Scott Dickens, along with 2008 CIS Swimmer of the Year Callum Ng are no longer with the men's program. The T-Bird women are now bolstered by Annamay's younger sister, Hanna Pierse, who takes over as team captain. Veterans Erin Miller and Martha McCabe are joined by several freshmen looking to make waves. The men's roster has no fifth-year seniors, but will rely on younger talent such as National Team member Jordan Hartney and sophomore Matthew Godbeer.
With 14 overall swimmers already qualified for Nationals and another 10 hopefuls, the Victoria Vikes, which placed fourth on both sides of the ledger at last year's conference finals, are clearly a school on the rise. Freshman Siobhan Newell, a five-time Clan Cup medalist in November, is part of a youth movement meant to build toward challenging for a team title down the road. Eleanora Dalling, Kaite Cook, Jessica Pietrusiak and Danielle Newton were all key figures in a second-place showing at the Clan Cup and bear watching in Lethbridge. Quintuple Clan Cup champion and winner of nine medals at the event, rookie Nicholas Sinclair shows the signs of future CIS champion and a Rookie of the Year candidate. Jeff Saganaski, David Killy, and Eric Stein look to bolster a team that looks for solid all-round performances to boost its stature heading into the CIS event.
The Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas have made strides under head coach Bill Humby, having made the podium at the conference level on both sides the last two years and placed well at Nationals. This year's women's team is led by 2009 CIS 50m breaststroke silver medalist Kayla Voytechek, now a sophomore, and team captain Lauren Gillespie. Brian Yakiwchuk and Joshua Au head up a list of men's swimmers looking to break through with podium placings.
While the Manitoba Bisons are another school with new-found talent, the roster is smaller than past years and looks to several individual results and CIS qualifiers for an overall improvement. For the Bison women, fourth-year Kerri-Ann Bochen is one of five who have qualified for Nationals, while Julie Therrien is a freestyle and short-distance threat looking to make the conference final. Men's rookie Riley Pickerl is a freestyle specialist who could make the conference podium and has a bright future at the CIS level. Fellow freshman Dillon Perron and fourth-year Casey Gergely are other key members for the Manitoba men's team.
The 2010 Canada West championship host Lethbridge Pronghorns have 17 swimmers at this year's meet in an effort to improve on a sixth-place finish on both sides in 2009. Individual podium finishes and getting as many CIS qualifiers as possible are goals within reach for the 'Horns. New 200m breaststroke school record holder Jeffrey Nicol is a sophomore with leadership ability. For the women, Kristy Gabruck set a new 50m breaststroke record earlier this season, her final year of CIS competition.
With limited participation - two men and two women - at the 2010 championships, the Regina Cougars are simply looking for personal best marks and to qualify a few swimmers for Nationals. Fifth-year butterfly specialist Linda Duarte has cracked the CIS standard. First-year swimmer Robert Ennis has qualified for the conference meet in five events.
Canada West Swimming Records (before 2010)
Alberta Golden Bears & Pandas
Men 2009 CW event: 3rd
2009 CIS event: 7th
Last CW title: 1996
Last CIS title: none
Women
2009 CW event: 3rd
2009 CIS event: 6th
Last CW title: 1993
Last CIS title: none
EDMONTON - Over the past two Canada West championships the University of Alberta swim teams, both the Pandas and Golden Bears, have finished with bronze medal performances, which is a trend that head coach Bill Humby expects to continue, if not improve, this season.
A solid core of returning swimmers will lead the charge for the 2009-10 Pandas and Golden Bears, and the future is bright also, as not all of Alberta's top swimmers are fifth-year athletes.
Sophomore Kayla Voytechek is certainly part of the new Panda power. The Lethbridge native made a name for herself last season by picking up a silver medal, and CIS Second Team All-Canadian status, at the national championship meet in the 50m breaststroke.
She was also part of the Pandas 400m medley relay team that finished fourth at the CIS championship, establishing a new team record in the process, and she also swam for Canada at the 25th Summer Universiade in July of 2009, and picked up a gold medal at the British championship in August of 2009.
Team captain Lauren Gillespie recorded a CIS bronze last season, as well as a new Alberta record in the 200m backstroke, and will be counted on to finish her fine career in style at the national championship this season. Kristyn Flanagan and Shauna O'Toole are two more key returnees for the Pandas, while Edmonton area rookie Bobbie Mielnichuk, also a member of the National Junior Team, will be a force to be reckoned with as well.
Brian Yakiwchuk, originally from Prince George, BC, will lead the Golden Bears off the platform, and is surrounded by a good mix of swimmers as well. Yakiwchuk, now in his third season, picked up CIS silver last season in the 1500m FS event, one year after claiming bronze in the same race. He also swam for Canada, alongside Voytechek, this past summer at the Universiade in Serbia.
Joshua Au, Jim Phelan, Doug Rawlick and Brent Trevisan will all contribute to the Alberta's men's success this season. Another Golden Bear of note is rookie Scott Stewart, who Humby claims is the hardest working athlete on the team. The freshman from Calgary walked onto the team earlier in the year as a one-event athlete, but has since blown away competition in numerous events to become the surprise addition to the team.
UBC Thunderbirds
Men
2009 CW event: 2nd
2009 CIS event: 1st
Last CW title: 2006
Last CIS title: 2009
Women
2009 CW event: 2nd
2009 CIS event: 2nd
Last CW title: 2007
Last CIS title: 2008
VANCOUVER - The UBC men's and women's swim teams have undergone an overhaul since placing first and second, respectively, at the 2009 CIS championships. Gone are Olympians Annamay Pierse and Scott Dickens, as are team leaders and career T-Birds Callum Ng and Haylee Johnson.
Fortunately for the Thunderbirds they welcomed a crop of 14 new swimmers to the pool deck for the 2009-10 season. The fresh faces are not expected to replace the departed talent, but are expected to have a steep learning curve with points at a premium in the always tough Canada West.
The changes do not end in the pool, as 2009 also marked the final season of head coach Derrick Schoof and assistant Claude-Yves Bertrand. Filling Schoof's shoes is promising local coach Chad Webb, who enjoyed success coaching age-group swimmers in North Vancouver. Assisting Webb is another young coach, Richard Millns, a Calgary-native who honed his skills in Saskatoon where he coached a successful group of young swimmers, including a national age-group record-breaker.
With the new dynamic at the UBC Aquatic Centre, 2010 promises to be challenging for the T-Birds with their first test coming at the conference championships, which the T-Birds have not captured since 2007 for the women and 2006 for the men. In recent years a lack of man power has plagued T-Birds at the Canada West meet, often relying on strong performances from squads smaller than those put forth by their chief rivals, the Calgary Dinos. This season, however, numbers won't be a problem as 16 men and 18 women will travel to Lethbridge.
If the T-Bird women, who boast their largest team in recent memory, are going to challenge the Dinos for the conference title, they will have to rely on youth to do so, as nine freshmen will be competing this year. Look for Edmontonian Shaneese Nowlan in butterfly and IM and Taryne Landry, younger sister of five-year T-Bird Michelle, in backstroke and freestyle to make a big splash in their debuts.
Success will not fall solely on the shoulders of the first-years. Hanna Pierse, younger sister of Annamay, has assumed the team captain's role and will be a force in both the breaststroke and individual medley events, while Martha McCabe steps into the role as the pre-eminent breaststroker in the CIS following Annamay's graduation. Erin Miller, the Thunderbirds' lone fifth-year swimmer, returns to the squad after a long absence due to injury and could surprise with some much-needed points in the butterfly events.
For the men, capturing their first Canada West banner in four seasons will be a tall task. Their side is full of youth with six first years and no fifth-year swimmers. Veterans to watch include National Team member Jordan Hartney, who looks to continue his recent dominance in the backstroke and individual medley events. Up-and-comer Matthew Godbeer, who enjoyed a successful summer following an impressive 2009 CIS championships, will be trying to cement himself as a power in both IM and mid-distance freestyle. Joining Godbeer and Hartney in the IM events is newly minted team captain Kevin Bruce who, in only in his third season as a T-Bird, will be called upon not only to score some much-needed points, but to provide leadership. Finally, the third-year trio of Rory Biskupski, Duncan Furrer and Tommy Gossland will be relied on to carry the UBC freestyle corps.
Calgary Dinos
Men
2009 CW event: 1st
2009 CIS event: 2nd
Last CW title: 2009
Last CIS title: 2008
Women
2009 CW event: 1st
2009 CIS event: 1st
Last CW title: 2009
Last CIS title: 2009
CALGARY - As defending champions in both men's and women's competition, the Calgary Dinos head to the Canada West championships this weekend favoured to repeat, but as head coach Mike Blondal continues to stress to his team, there's plenty of hard work ahead.
"We need to understand that we're going to need to work, both our men and our women, to scrape out a win," said the veteran Blondal, who was the CIS women's coach of the year in 2009. "I don't think there's any way you can win a competition at this level without working hard, and the athletes need to be aware that there's no way of coasting to a win.
"UBC is a well-coached, tough team with tradition and I would never count them out. And the team that's really on the rise is Alberta, they're swimming really well and that's really good for our conference.
Not content with the most dominant performance in CIS swimming history, the Calgary Dinos women earned medal after medal internationally in the summer of 2009 and look poised to repeat their first-ever national university championship in 2010. The lady Dinos are two-time defending Canada West champions.
Led by Katy Murdoch, who broke several Canadian records and was part of a new short course world record in the 4x100m medley relay, the Dinos shone at the FINA World championships in Rome (CIS rookie of the year Erica Morningstar) and the Summer Universiade in Belgrade, Serbia where Kevyn Peterson won four medals, including gold in the 400 free, with Murdoch adding three. Breanna Hendriks and Seanna Mitchell joined them on the podium for relay bronze.
Jessica Johnson, Jessika Craig, and Allison Long also represented Canada at the biennial FISU Games in Serbia.
Murdoch, in her fifth and final season with the Dinos in 2010, broke record after record over the summer to add to her pair of Canadian short course marks from the CIS championships in Vancouver. She added a national long course record in the 100-metre backstroke, then broke her own short course record in the same event and added a Commonwealth record to boot.
The quartet of Murdoch, Hendriks, Peterson and Morningstar returned early this week from Australia, where they won a silver medal in Melbourne's Victoria State championships in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
The powerful Dinos women captured their first-ever team title at the 2009 CIS championships, ending UBC's 11-year streak in the T-Birds' home pool in Vancouver. It was the fastest CIS meet in history, and Calgary swimmers set seven national records. Virtually the entire team returns this season.
The Dinos men, meanwhile, were just 28 points away from repeating their 2008 national championship last season but instead settled for silver behind the host T-Birds in the closest finish in CIS swimming history. Calgary has won the last three Canada West men's titles.
While Olympian Mike Brown has announced his retirement from competitive swimming, the Canada West champion Dinos men return Dan Langlois, Colin Miazga and Max Moore along with conference rookie of the year David Woodman, while freshman David Dimitrov represented Canada in Serbia at the FISU Games. Depth in all disciplines will be Calgary's strength as the Dinos men look to join their female teammates atop the CIS podium.
Dmitrov and Bogdan Knezevic, in particular, are key additions to the team and fill holes in the butterfly and individual medley events. Both have rookie-of-the-year potential and will be key players in Calgary's quest to regain the national title.
The ultimate goal for both Dinos teams, of course, is the national championship next month in Toronto, but the conference meet is a key step on the road to that dream.
"This meet is where we need to build confidence in the rank-and-file of the team," said Blondal. "They have to gain that confidence to know that they can get into scoring position at the CIS event, because the competition there will be much different. The dynamics have changed with new coaching at UBC, new coaching in Ottawa, and with all of the Montreal clubs teaming up with the University of Montreal, so that has the potential to take lots of points away from us. No one really knows how that is going to end up."
The Dinos will host the 2011 CIS Swimming Championships at the University of Calgary Aquatic Centre.
Lethbridge Pronghorns
Men
2009 CW event: 6th
2009 CIS event: 17th
Last CW title: none
Last CIS title: none
Women
2009 CW event: 6th
2009 CIS event: t-18th
Last CW title: none
Last CIS title: none
LETHBRIDGE - For the first time in five seasons the Lethbridge Pronghorn swim team will welcome the Canada West conference to Lethbridge and the Max Bell Aquatic Centre for the Canada West championships.
With only 17 swimmers qualified for the conference meet, it is still unrealistic to expect the Horns to challenge for the conference title with such a small squad, but the goal is to improve on last year's team standings and continue to achieve personal-best times. This year's Horns contingent is five fewer than last seasons' qualifying group, but with seven freshmen and only two fifth-year seniors, the team is a young group that will gain valuable experience.
Both the men's and women's sides finished a disappointing sixth in their respective divisions last year and failed to achieve their goal of moving up in the Canada West standings. In 2005, when the meet was last hosted in Lethbridge, both genders finished fifth in the team standings.
Highest-ranked entering this weekend's competition is breaststroke specialist Jeffrey Nicol. Nicol has had a strong start to the season, setting a new school record in the 200m breaststroke. As a freshman last season Nicol finished sixth in the 200m breaststroke at the conference meet and will surely improve on that if he swims anywhere near his school record of 2:17.83.
On the women's side, senior Kristy Gabruck has also had a strong start to the university season, setting a new school record in the 50m breaststroke earlier this season and looks to close out her university career strongly. Joining Nicol and Gabruck as the only Horns to already qualify for the CIS championships is freshman Jessica Kelly. Kelly has shown great promise in the back, fly and free sprint events.
"We are really looking forward to watching our two school record holders, Kristy Gabruck and Jeffrey Nicol, go to work in this competitive field," said fifth-year head coach Brad Mori. "We have not had a medal performance in some time, I think we are due. As a team we are looking to build upon last season's sixth-place finishes for both the men and women. On paper we have a stronger team than last year."
In order to move up the conference standings, the Horns contingent will have to achieve personal best times across the board.
Manitoba Bisons
Men
2009 CW event: 5th
2009 CIS event: 15th
Last CW title: none
Last CIS title: none
Women
2009 CW event: 5th
2009 CIS event: 10th
Last CW title: none
Last CIS title: none
WINNIPEG - Entering the 2010 Canada West championships both Bison teams are a little smaller than in previous years, but expect medal performances from several individual athletes. The men's squad is currently ranked 14th in CIS and fifth-highest for Canada West schools, while the women's side is ranked 21st in the CIS and seventh in the conference.
For the men's side this season the big splash has been rookie Riley Pickerl. Pickerl has been outstanding in his first year in the pool for Manitoba and has offset the loss of Canada West All-Star Braeden Taylor this season. Pickerl set a new Bison swim record in the 400m freestyle event at the 2009 Canada Cup when he swam 3:57.95 and smashed the six-year-old record by over 1.5 seconds (Elliot Macdonald: 3:59.5). His 400m time is now the CIS seventh-fastest swim for that event so far this season. Pickerl is also ranked first in CIS and Canada West in the 800m freestyle (8:10.81), ninth in CIS (5th in Canada West) in the 200m freestyle, 11th in CIS (5th in Canada West) in 400m individual medley plus 12th in CIS (3rd in Canada West) in the 200m backstroke event.
Also with the men, fourth-year Casey Gergely is the second Bison to qualify for CIS Nationals, as he is currently ranked 15th in CIS (6th in Canada West) in the 100m butterfly and 20th in CIS (9th in Canada West) in the 200m butterfly. Rookie Dillon Perron has an opportunity to qualify for the CIS championships, as he is 23rd in the 200m breaststroke (9th in Canada West) and 30th in CIS in the 50m breaststroke.
This season the women's side has one of five swimmers qualified for CIS Nationals and a potential for a second after the conference championship. Medal potentials and making final swims at the Canada West championships start with fourth-year Kerri-Ann Bochen, the highest ranked Bison with All-Star Landice Yestrau not with the Bisons this season. Bochen earned the CIS standard in the 200m breaststroke event and places her 14th in the CIS and seventh-best in Canada West in this event. She is currently ranked 21st in CIS in 100m breaststroke and 22nd in CIS (8th in Canada West) in 200m butterfly. Second-year Julie Therrien is ranked 33rd in CIS (11th in Canada West) in the 50m freestyle, 41st in CIS in the 100m freestyle and 42nd in CIS in the 100m backstroke.
Head coach Vlastimil Cerny is looking for the men to qualify three swimmers, which would help in compete in relay events, and the women to qualify a second swimmer to the CIS Nationals. He feels the small team (five men and five women) will peak and perform at their best during the conference championships and will continue its growth with solid individual performances.
Regina Cougars
Men
2009 CW event: 7th
2009 CIS event: 21st
Last CW title: none
Last CIS title: none
Women
2009 CW event: 7th
2009 CIS event: 17th
Last CW title: none
Last CIS title: none
REGINA - Led by fifth-year butterfly specialist Linda Duarte, Regina will send four athletes to the 2010 Canada West championships in Lethbridge.
Duarte is the only U of R swimmer to have hit a national standard this season, as she recorded a time of 1:04.12 in the 100m 'fly back in late November. She also hit Canada West standards in the 50m butterfly (30.66 s), the 200m 'fly (2:26.37), and the 100m breaststroke (1:20.16). Duarte will be participating in her fifth national championship in as many seasons as a Cougar.
Maggi Pettit is the only other member of the U of R's women's team making the trip to Lethbridge. Pettit, in her fourth year of eligibility, is a freestyle specialist that has hit the Canada West standard this season in both the 50m freestyle (27.95 s) and the 100m freestyle (1:01.14).
On the men's side, first-year swimmer Robert Ennis has had a fine first season for the Cougars. Ennis has amassed five Canada West standards this year, including in all three butterfly events. He has also hit the conference standard in the 100m and 200m freestyle.
Hector Fukushi, in his second year as a Cougar, will make his first trip to the conference championships. Fukushi, who hails from Chile, hit the Canada West standard in both the 100m breaststroke (1:09.87) and the 200m breaststroke (2:31.95) this season.
Victoria Vikes
Men
2009 CW event: 4th
2009 CIS event: 8th
Last CW title: none
Last CIS title: none
Women
2009 CW event: 4th
2009 CIS event: 8th
Last CW title: 1980
Last CIS title: none
VICTORIA - A fresh batch of UVic Vikes swimming recruits has already exceeded expectations heading into 2010, and the Canada West championships provide another opportunity for head coach Peter Vizsolyi's young roster to qualify for the CIS championships.
Ten Vikes on the men's roster and four on the women's have already qualified for the CIS national championship, with Vizsolyi seeing the conference championship as the springboard for another 10 swimmers to qualify for the national stage.
"It's an opportunity to get some good swims under your belt," Vizsolyi said of the three-day tournament, which runs January 22-24.
Only two seniors will suit up for the men's squad this season, but the youthful roster has already shown signs of promise. The Vikes men finished second in November's Clan Cup, and combined with the women's squad to capture 29 individual medals.
Jeff Saganaski, David Killy, and Eric Stein each medaled for the Vikes but it was Nicholas Sinclair, the rookie swimmer out of Oak Bay Secondary that stole the spotlight claiming five gold medals and four bronzes.
The Victoria, B.C. native is fresh off an impressive campaign in Australia where he competed alongside members of Canada's U-20 program and captured gold in the 200m backstroke.
"The men's program is a lot stronger than it has been for many years and could potentially finish among the top five at the CIS championships," Vizsolyi said.
For the women's squad it has primarily been a year of rebuilding without Mackenzie Downing. The Whitehorse native left a lasting legacy of 17 CIS championship medals during her UVic career, including two silvers at the 2009 competition.
"I think any time you lose someone who's a sure multiple medalist you lose a leader and an anchor within your squad," Vistolyi added.
As the torch is passed on to another generation of UVic swimmers, the Vikes have already begun to prove themselves as legitimate contenders and could potentially book eight more spots to the CIS championships this weekend.
Siobhan Newell has led the Vikes medal haul in her rookie season winning silver and three bronzes at the Clan Cup. Contributing to the second-place finish and capturing silverware were Eleanora Dalling, Kaite Cook, Jessica Pietrusiak and Danielle Newton.
