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Day 2 CIS championships (prelims): More records fall at university Nationals
Courtesy of Ben Schach, UBC sports information
VANCOUVER (CIS) - The fastest CIS swimming championships in
history resumed Friday morning as one more Canadian short-course
mark and four meet records were set during the second session of
preliminaries at the UBC Aquatic Centre.
Championship website (live results & live video webcast):
www.cisport.ca/e/championships/swimming/2009
The three-day event got off to a spectacular start Thursday when
five Canadian records fell and another senior standard was tied,
while the CIS championship records book was rewritten seven times
in 12 races.
In the first Friday preliminary, the women's 100-metre backstroke,
University of Calgary's Katy Murdoch (Calgary) broke a nine-year
old Canadian mark with a time of 59.08 seconds. The previous
national record of 59.33 had been set in 2000 by Marilyn Chiang and
the old CIS meet record of 59.61 had been established in 2007 by
Calgary's Erin Gammel.
Kelly Aspinall (Nanoose Bay, B.C.), also of the Calgary Dinos,
followed up with a CIS championship record time of 23.60 in the
men's 50 butterfly, besting UBC's Darryl Rudolf's mark of 24.20 set
in 2006.
In the women's 50 freestyle, Marie-Pier Ratelle
(Trois-Rivières, Que.) of Université Laval erased the
oldest CIS championship mark from the records book. Ratelle touched
the wall in 25.32 to eclipse the standard of 25.47 set in 1988 by
the University of Toronto's Marie Armentero.
Toronto's Colin Russell, a 2008 Olympian from Burlington, Ont.,
followed up a few minutes later with a new CIS meet record of 22.37
in the men's 50 free. The previous mark of 22.56 was shared by
McGill's Ryan Tomicic (2004) and Toronto's Martyn Forde (2008).
Among other swimmers who will enter Friday's finals as No. 1 seed,
Dino Olympian Mike Brown (Perth, Ont.) will go for gold in his
favourite race, the 200 breaststroke. Brown missed a medal by 0.09
seconds in the event at last summer's Olympic Games, after
finishing sixth in Athens in 2004.
The Calgary women, who hold a 252-196 lead over reigning CIS
champion UBC in the team standings after the first day of
competition, qualified 12 swimmers for Friday night's individual
finals, while the T-Birds qualified nine athletes.
The UBC men, who go into the evening enjoying a 272-217 advantage
over defending national champion Calgary, will have nine swimmers
in the finals compared to 11 for the Dinos.
Women's 100 metre backstroke
Calgary Dino Katy Murdoch set a Canadian record with a time of
59.08 in the final heat of this morning's prelims. Challenging her
for the title tonight will be teammate and 50 metre champ Hanna
Kubas (1:00.46) as the two Dinos were well clear of the field. Dino
Jessika Craig will also be in the medal mix tonight as she was
fourth fastest this morning with a time 1:01.60 just behind U of
T's Andrea Jurenovskis (1:01.30).
Men's 100 metre backstroke
Callum Ng will be the favourite heading into tonight's final after
qualifying second this morning with a time of 54.47. The fifth-year
UBC star will be looking to earn his fourth straight title in the
men's 100 backstroke. Last night he won his fifth consecutive gold
in the 50 metre backstroke and can end his career with nine gold
medals and one silver in the two backstroke sprints if he can
defeat Calgary's Dan Langlois (53.98) who had the top time this
morning and was a silver medalist in 2007.
Women's 50 metre butterfly
UQTR's Jennifer Carroll just missed her CIS championship record of
27.02 with a time of 27.27 to lead the field by more than a half
second this morning. Carroll has won the last four editions of the
50 butterfly and will go for the CIS career sweep tonight. The
final features swimmers from six different teams including a pair
of UBC rookies in Grainne Pierse (28.33) and Iris Cheng
(28.55).
Men's 50 metre butterfly
Calgary sophomore Kelly Aspinall torched the CIS record in the 50
butterfly this morning with a time of 23.60. That result was just
three one-hundredths behind Mine Mintenko's Canadian record and
Aspinall should have a shot at the record tonight. He finished more
than eight tenths ahead of the next fastest swimmer. Laval had
three of the top five qualifiers in Nicolas Murray (24.43), Samuel
Dallaire- Poirier (24.50), and Martin Beauregard Greusard
(24.73).
Women's 400 metre freestyle
The Dinos and Varsity Blues combined for the six fastest times
this morning in the women's 400 freestyle. The favourites heading
into tonight's final will be the Dino duo of Kevyn Peterson
(4:17.24) and Breanna Hendriks (4:16.09) who both sport personal
bests that are seven seconds faster than the rest of the field.
They will likely erase Carla Geurts' CIS championship record of
4:07.60 and could challenge Brittany Reimer's national mark of
4:03.61.
Men's 400 metre freestyle
The Calgary Dinos earned four spots in tonight's final with rookie
David Woodman (3:52.86) and sophomore Colin Miazga (3:53.28) going
one-two. The final will feature a total of four rookies, and no
seniors, with McGill first-year Steven Bielby (3:53.36) and
Alberta's Robert MacKinnon (3:54.73) both strong bets to crack the
medal podium.
Women's 200 metre breaststroke
UBC dominated as expected in the women's 200 breaststroke with
Canadian record holder Annamay Pierse leading the way in a time of
2:27.59. The T-Birds are ranked first through fourth heading into
the final and should sweep another breaststroke event after going
1-2-3in the100 metre sprint last night.
Men's 200 metre breaststroke
Round two of the most anticipated match-up of this year's CIS
Championship will go tonight as UBC's Scott Dickens (2:12.54) and
Calgary's Mike Brown (2:11.15) go head to head in the men's 200
breaststroke after Dickens triumphed over Brown in the men's 100
breaststroke last night in Canadian record time. The race for
bronze is wide open with defending champion Marco Monaco (2:13.38),
from U of T, a slight favourite.
Women's 50 metre freestyle
Laval's Marie-Pier Ratelle disposed of the oldest CIS championship
record with a time of 25.32 in the 50 freestyle, bettering U of T's
Marie Armentero's time of 25.47 that had stood since 1988.
Calgary's Erica Morningstar, the Canadian record holder in the
event with a time of 24.84, sits second (25.63) and should
challenge for the gold tonight.
Men's 50 metre freestyle
2008 Olympian Colin Russell continued his assault on the CIS
record book with a new championship record in the men's 50 free,
stopping the clock in 22.37. Spots second through sixth were
separated by just 15 one-hundredths of a second in the fastest 50
freestyle preliminaries in CIS history as six swimmers were 22.80
or better.
Women's 200 metre butterfly
Laval's Pamela Filiatrault-Veilleux touched the wall first this
morning in a time of 2:13.77 and looks to add to her 100 metre
butterfly triumph from last night. Defending champion MacKenzie
Downing of Victoria sits second at 2:14.26 with Calgary's Jessica
Johnson (2:16.43) third.
Men's 200 metre butterfly
The T-Birds field three of tonight's finalists including defending
champion Rory Biskupski (2:00.60), defending silver medalist Jordan
Hartney (1:59.45), and last night's 100 metre butterfly champion
Callum Ng (2:01.25). U of T rookie Zack Chetrat was the top
qualifier in 1:59.06 as the final fea
