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 Katelyn 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 women's 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 Katelyn 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 Daniel 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 features four first-year swimmers.
- CIS -
