Canada West Swimming recap: Canada West swimming champions & award winners

Photo credit Richard Lam, UBC Athletics

DAY 3

VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds swept the 2011 Canada West swimming championships in their home pool, collecting the men's and women's conference banners on Sunday afternoon at the UBC Aquatic Centre. Although the final results were the same, the build up to Sunday's finish could not have been more different.

The UBC men led from start to finish this weekend, overwhelming the defending CIS champion Calgary Dinos 926.5 to 703.5 in the final team standings with Alberta finishing third at 529 points.

In the women's competition, however, the host T-Birds waited until midway through the final day of racing to overtake the defending CIS champion Dinos en route to a 1114-999 advantage in the overall point standings. Victoria collected the bronze with 349 points to edge Alberta's 336.

UBC finally took the lead in the women's competition following the 200-metre individual medley, the third event of the afternoon.

Calgary's Erica Morningstar, the 2011 Canada West Female Swimmer of the Year, took gold with a conference record 2:09.60 but it was UBC finishing second through fifth and seventh and eighth that turned a seven point deficit into a 42-point lead. It was an advantage they would never relinquish as they defended their 2010 conference crown.

"They were great today. We knew we had a hard fought battle but we knew today was one of our better days coming into the meet," said UBC head coach Chad Webb when asked about the female 'Birds. "They battled right until the last event. They showed a lot of heart and determination like we have all season and that just stems from the hard work they put in every day at the pool."

The T-Birds got three gold medal performances from their women on Sunday. Second-year Shaneese Nowlan topped the field in the 200m butterfly (2:15.29) in the session's opening event to get her team off to a flying start.

Standout Martha McCabe bettered her own Canada West record en route to gold in the 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:22.57 and Savannah King, the 2011 Canada West Female Rookie of the Year, rounded out the T-Bird gold haul with a first place showing in the 400m freestyle (4:11.51).

Other conference champions on Sunday were all Calgary Dinos. Seanna Mitchell won her fourth individual gold of the weekend in the 100m freestyle (54.97), Jessika Craig in the 100m backstroke (1:02.42) and the Dinos added gold in the 4x100m medley relay.

The T-Bird men came into the final day of swimming with an insurmountable lead of 215 points and did more than enough to seal their first conference banner since 2006.

There were three gold medals performances on Sunday for the T-Bird men including a pair of standout efforts from sprinter Tommy Gossland. The fourth-year collected first in the men's 100m freestyle with a scintillating time of 49.77 and then Gossland anchored UBC's 4x100m medley relay in the meet's final event as they came from behind to defeat the Dinos. Gossland hit the water just over a second behind the Calgary anchor but his blistering time of 48.80 more than made up the difference as he powered the T-Birds to gold.

Kelly Aspinall, who led out the T-Bird relay, earned gold in the men's 100m backstroke with a 0.01 second victory over Calgary's Gleb Suvorov, 55.47 to 55.48.

"The guys got better and better through the week" said Webb. "A lot of them are in some hard training and they fought tooth and nail all weekend. They were tired coming into the meet but they did a great job rallying. They were solid in every event and it's this kind of team that will be able to compete for a national title in a few weeks time."

It wasn't all bad news for Calgary's Suvorov, who was named the 2011 Canada West Male Rookie of the Year, as he earned a gold in the men's 200m individual medley (2:01.78) on Sunday, out touching his teammate Bogdan Knezevic by 0.22 seconds.

Fellow Dino David Dimitrov collected Canada West Male Swimmer of the Year honours after another impressive day in the pool. On Sunday he won the 200m butterfly (2:01.00) and the 400m freestyle (3:52.65) and added a silver as a member of the Dinos relay. Dimitrov had individual golds earlier this weekend in the 1500m freestyle and 400m individual medley as well as one relay gold.

Calgary's Jason Block completed the weekend sweep of the breaststroke events with a gold on Sunday in the 200m breaststroke (2:15.74).

The 2011 CIS Championships are scheduled for February 24-26 in Calgary.

WOMEN'S STANDSINGS
1. UBC  1014  
2. Calgary 999
3. Victoria 349  
4. Alberta  336
5. Lethbridge  181  
6. Manitoba  133
7. Regina  32       

MEN'S STANDSINGS
1. UBC  926.5  
2. Calgary 703.5
3. Alberta 529
4. Victoria 402
5. Lethbridge 279 
6. Manitoba 183

AWARDS
Female Swimmer of the Year: Erica Morningstar, Calgary
Female Rookie of the Year: Savannah King, UBC
Male Swimmer of the Year: David Dimitrov, Calgary
Male Rookie of the Year: Gleb Suvorov, Calgary

ALL-STARS

Alberta
Joshua Au

Calgary
Jason Block
Jessika Craig
David Dimitrov
Fiona Doyle
Brad Hankewich
Breanna Hendriks
Bogdan Knezevic
Colin Miazga
Seanna Mitchell
Erica Morningstar
Gleb Suvorov

UBC
Kelly Aspinall
Rory Biskupski
Duncan Furrer
Tommy Gossland
Brittney Harley
Savannah King
Heather MacLean
Martha McCabe
Shawneese Nowlan
Fionnuala Pierse
Hanna Pierse
Rudi Plesch
Zack Zeiler

 

DAY 2 has records as Dino women, T-Bird men take control

VANCOUVER - The Calgary Dinos had a pair of recording breaking performances to maintain control of the women's team competition at the 2011 Canada West swimming championships in Vancouver, while the host UBC Thunderbirds broke open the men's meet with another dominating night of racing.

In the women's competition, Calgary sits first after two days with 655 points. UBC is second at 593 and Victoria a distant third with 235.

In the men's meet, the host T-Birds have a commanding lead with 604 points after day two compared to Calgary's 389 and Alberta's 343.

Seanna Mitchell set a conference mark in the evening's first event, the women's 50-metre freestyle, winning in a time of 25.57 to better Erica Morningstar's old record of 25.67. It was Mitchell's second record of the weekend as she set a mark in the 50m butterfly (27.83) on Friday. Fellow Dinos Fiona Doyle (25.87) and Bethany Felmington (26.24) rounded out the 50m freestyle podium.

It was then Moringstar's turn to re-write the record books as she erased former world record holder Annamay Pierse's 100m breaststroke mark with a 1:07.02 gold medal performance, just bettering the old standard of 1:07.10 set in 2009. UBC's Martha McCabe finished second at 1:07.72 with Doyle collecting bronze at 1:08.06. Mitchell also won gold in the women's 100m butterfly with a time of 1:01.36.

Mitchell and Morningstar just missed adding their names to the record books again in the 4x100m freestyle relay as the Dinos time of 3:42.87 was just over the old mark of 3:42.79 that they set back in 2009.

"We've got to get home, get some food in them, and rest up since it's an early start tomorrow morning. Every swim is going to count," said Calgary boss Mike Blondal. "I thought the T-Birds fought back pretty good tonight and our girls are going to have to step it up again tomorrow to keep them at bay"

Not to be outdone on the record front, UBC's Hanna Pierse put together a masterful swim in the 400m individual medley, finishing first with a conference record time of of 4:39.81. The fifth-year T-Bird athlete led a UBC sweep in the event as McCabe (4:43.57), the former standard bearer at 4:42.97, finished second and UBC rookie Hayley Pipher was third (4:43.68).

Calgary's Jessika Craig was victorious in the women's 200m backstroke in 2:10.01 and UBC's Heather MacLean brought home the first individual gold medal of her career with a 1:59.90 performance in the 200m freestyle.

In the men's competition, the T-Birds dominated the finals session with an eight medal haul highlighted by the effort of team captain Rory Biskupski.

Biskupski began the night with a gold in the 50m freestyle, out touching teammate Tommy Gossland 23.03 to 23.20 to snatch first place. Calgary's James Goodway (23.46) was third. The UBC captain returned to the pool in the 100m butterfly and was narrowly beaten to the wall by Alberta's Joshua Au in the 100m butterfly, having to settle for silver. Au was first in 55.19, Biskupski second at 55.25 and fellow T-Bird Kelly Aspinall was third (55.69). Biskupski then teamed with Gossland, Aspinall, and Duncan Furrer to win the men's 4x100m freestyle relay, posting the fastest split of the night at 49.61.

UBC head coach Chad Webb was pleased with team's performance but he still sees room for improvement as they continue their preparation for the CIS national championships at the end of February.

"Our men turned it around today and did a better job. Specifically in the relay we had some tough doubles and the guy's had to do back-to-back races. They did a really good job with that and they're getting the picture that at the end of the day we've got to be tough when it matters most," said Webb. "The message is the same for both teams heading into tomorrow and that's you can't let up. The minute you let up is the minute you become apathetic and that's when teams can get the better of you."

Calgary fought back with four gold medal performances in the men's races but they could not match the T-Birds depth as UBC extended their lead from 80 points to 215 heading into Sunday. Winners for Calgary on the night were David Dimitrov in the 400m individual medley (4:20.30), Gleb Suvorov in the 200m backstroke (1:59.06), Jason Block in the 100m breaststroke (1:01.96), and Colin Miazga in the 200m freestyle (1:50.44).

The racing concludes on Sunday. Heats are scheduled for a 9:00 a.m. start while finals go at 2:00 p.m. at the UBC Aquatic Centre.

Women's Team Rankings - through event 24
1. Calgary 655
2. UBC 593
3. Victoria 235
4. Alberta 209
5. Lethbridge 127
6. Manitoba 85
7. Regina 22

Men's Team Rankings - through event 24
1. UBC 604
2. Calgary 389
3. Alberta 343
4. Victoria 265
5. Lethbridge 190
6. Manitoba 128

 

DAY 1 at UBC sees UBC men, Dinos women top standings

VANCOUVER - A pair of conference records highlighted the opening night of the 2011 Canada West Swimming Championships in Vancouver. Calgary Dinos David Dimitrov and Seanna Mitchell added their name to the conference records book in back-to-back events as the Dinos took the lead in the women's competition with the host UBC Thunderbirds leading the men.

Calgary ranks first in the women's competition with 269 points, with UBC second at 183 and Victoria third with 125. On the men's side, it's the host T-Birds who rank first with 227 points, ahead of Calgary's 147 and Victoria is third with 142.

Dimitrov put together an impressive performance in the men's 1,500-metre freestyle, the second event of the evening, finishing first in 15:18.83 to erase Mike Meldrum's a 21-year old mark of 15:21.09.

Swimming in the third heat, with only two other swimmers, Dimitrov found his own motivation as he steadily got stronger throughout the race to easily outpace a solid 15:33.76 effort from Victoria's Craig Dagnall that had stood as the evening top time. Brian Yakiwchuk brought home the bronze in 15:48.99.

"We did pretty well today, I was pleased with the Canada West records we set," Calgary head coach Mike Blondal said. "Especially with Dimitrov. It was a great swim. We had a tough decision to make to put him in the 1500-metre. He kept calm and did very well."

"Mainly I just wanted to see how I swam. I haven't swam the mile in a long time," said Dimitrov. "I was not going for a particular time, I was just seeing how I could do. We weren't sure on me swimming the mile at all this race. It's really big for us to get points early on."

Due to illness, the Dinos only have 13 male swimmers at the meet.

"We're really lacking this year, it's just the way it is," Dimitrov said. "Because we're so low on guys, every point counts."

Mitchell followed up her male teammate's impressive effort with a gold in the women's 50m butterfly in a conference record time of 27.83. That finish bettered the old Canada West mark that was held by T-Birds Stephanie Nicholls and Erin Miller at 27.98.

UBC freshman Kimberly Bowman collected silver (28.17) and Lethbridge's Jessica Kelly was third (28.44).

The Dino women won all three 50-metre events on the night which helped them to their 86-point lead after day one. Erica Morningstar, a 2008 Olympian, took home gold in the backstroke (28.71) and breaststroke (31.67). The third year's sensational night, however, came to a bit of a surprising end as the T-Bird women put together a herculean effort in the 4x200m freestyle relay to snatch gold away from the favoured Dinos.

With a slight lead and Morningstar in the water, Calgary looked well on their way to victory in the relay, however, UBC freshman Heather McLean came back on the Olympian and put UBC into the lead at the half-way mark of the race. Brittney Harley and Savannah King, who won the meet's first event - the women's 800m freestyle (8:39.96), then kept the Dinos at bay as UBC outpaced Calgary 8:06.31 to 8:07.77 for the gold. Fionnuala Pierse led off the T-Bird relay.

"I think our women showed a lot of heart. They definitely came in as the underdogs in that relay but their performance is a testament to the work that they do in practice," said UBC head coach Chad Webb. "You see Heather McLean out there tonight, to come back and take down Erica Morningstar. That was a huge boost for her and the team."

The men's relay was a little more predictable, as the top-seeded Dinos brought home the gold in 7:22.34 followed by UBC (7:26.97) and Alberta (7:32.41) to cut into the hosts big lead.

The T-Birds took control of day one with a dominant performance in the men's 50m butterfly. Kelly Aspinall easily won gold in 24.84, leading six T-Birds into the top eight. Calgary's top finisher was 10th and that performance by UBC went a long way to in solidifying their grip on first.

Despite the buffer, Webb wasn't entirely pleased with his team's performance.

"Our guys did a really good job but I think we can be better. We wanted to have the lead after day one but there were some misses tonight and we'll have to do better at CIs which is the ultimate goal for this team," added Webb.

Other winners in the men's competition were Calgary's Jason Block (28.43) in the 50m breaststroke and UBC's Zack Zeiler in the 50m backstroke (26.66).

Men - Team Rankings after Day 1
1. UBC Thunderbirds 227
2. Calgary Dinos 147
3. UVic Vikes 142
4. Alberta Pandas 138
5. Lethbridge Pronghorns 99
6. Manitoba Bisons 57

Women - Team Rankings after Day 1
1. Calgary Dinos 269
2. UBC Thunderbirds 183
3. UVic Vikes 125
4. Alberta Pandas 91
5. Lethbridge Pronghorns 81
6. Manitoba Bisons 42
7. Regina Cougars 15

Source: UBC Sports Info