LETHBRIDGE – The University of Calgary Dinos kicked off the 2022 Canada West Championships by bringing home seven medals – including four gold – in a strong first day of action from the Max Bell Aquatic Centre Friday.

Powered by a win in the final relay of the night, the Dino men hold a lead in the overall team standings with 227 total points through the first five events. UBC sits in second at 222, followed by the host 'Horns in third at 118.

In the women's standings, the defending Canada West Champions will have some work to do in the final two days, as Calgary sits in second in a tight race with 186 points, thus far. The Thunderbirds lead after day one with 240 points, while Victoria sits in third at 151.

Calgary kicked off this year's meet with a bang, sweeping the gold medals in one of the opening events.

Olympian Rebecca Smith successfully defended her 50m butterfly title, touching the wall this year with a winning time of 26.46. Teammate Laura Albers won the B-final in 27.90, with Kyla Nelson and Julianne Moore showing off the Dinos depth taking 11th and 12th, respectively.

Just moments later, Stephen Calkins announced his return to Canada West competition with authority, winning the men's 50 fly in 23.74. Thomas McDonald came in sixth at 24.27, while Addison Butler (ninth), Matthew Gauthier (12th), Sebastian Castillo (15th) Dan Gerlach (16th) all also added valuable points for the Scarlet & Gold.

In the very next event, Calkins was at it again. This time, the Calgary native brought home a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke in 24.66 seconds and was one of four Dinos in the A-final, joined by Richie Stokes (sixth), Gerlach (seventh) and Castillo (eighth) for a big point swing.

Hannah Johnsen collected her first medal of the year in the women's 50 back with a win in a thrilling race. One year after taking silver in the event, the second year touched the wall in 27.90, one-tenth of a second ahead of second place to claim gold at this year's meet. Eliza Housman earned a fourth-place finish in 29.04, while Sarah Corson placed 14th in 30.23.

The first medal of the day went to Paul McKenzie. The third year placed third in the 1500m with a new personal-best time of 15:28.90 – dropping nearly eight seconds off his previous best set at last year's conference meet. Rookie Charlie Skalenda came in fifth for Calgary in 15:43.86, followed closely by Xavier Pimentel at 15:53.83 for sixth, while Patrick McCloy (16:32.37) and Liam Dennett (16:43.16) also added valuable points.

Marit Anderson was one of four Dinos to score in the women's 800m freestyle. The veteran swimmer finished fourth in 8:59.58. Emily De Jager touched the wall seventh in 9:07.12, while Emma Mitchell (9:16.69) and Nadine Daoud (9:23.53) did well in the B-final.

In the final individual event of the night, Mackenzie Wallich and Isabella Duncan finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the women's 50m breaststroke, while Ian Cameron and Gauthier placed sixth and seventh in the men's event.

Calgary closed out the night with two more medals in the 800 free relay. Hannah Bennett, Smith, Anderson and Avery Movold teamed up to claim silver on the women's side with a solid time of 8:04.33. 

The men's squad then followed that up with an emphatic win to close out the night on an incredibly strong note. Ian Friesen, Nathan Versluys, P. McKenzie and Stokes combined for a winning time of 7:14.57 – over two seconds ahead of UBC's four swimmers to secure the team lead after day one.

In all, the Dinos brought home seven medals after day one and turned in an impressive 36 scoring performances through just the first five events of this year's championships.

The three-day meet continues Saturday from Lethbridge, with prelim action starting at 10 a.m., while the evening finals are scheduled to start at 5 p.m.

TEAM SCORES - DAY 1
Men:
Calgary - 227
UBC - 222
Lethbridge - 118
Alberta - 96
Victoria - 88
Regina - 56
Manitoba - 24

Women:
UBC - 240
Calgary - 186
Victoria - 151
Manitoba - 84
Alberta - 81
Lethbridge - 58
Regina - 34

DAY 1 MEDALS

Women's 800m Freestyle
1. Emma O'Croinin    UBC    8:42.79
2. Anna Dumont-Belanger    UBC    8:53.54
3. Rosalie Davidson    UBC    8:53.76

Men's 1500m Freestyle
1. Liam Clawson-Honeyman    UBC    15:25.27
2. Diego Paz    Alberta    15:28.67
3. Paul McKenzie    Calgary    15:28.90

Women's 50m Butterfly
1. Rebecca Smith    Calgary    26.46
2. Dora Modrcin    Manitoba    27.08
3. Yasmin Perry    Victoria    27.46

Men's 50m Butterfly
1. Stephen Calkins    Calgary    23.74
2. Siu Lun Ho    UBC    23.91
3. Dima Lim    UBC    23.97

Women's 50m Backstroke
1. Hannah Johnsen    Calgary    27.90
2. Eloise Allen    UBC    28.00
3. Dora Modrcin    Manitoba    28.55

Men's 50m Backstroke
1. Blake Tierney    UBC    24.45
2. Chris Alexander    Lethbridge    24.54
3. Stephen Clakins    Calgary    24.66

Women's 50m Breaststroke
1. Alicia L'Archeveque UBC    30.94
2. Eloise Allen    UBC    31.13
3. Erin Epp    Victoria    31.87

Men's 50m Breaststroke
1. Apollo Hess    Lethbridge    26.63
2. Justice Migneault    UBC    27.67
3. Tristan Bennett    Lethbridge    27.74

Women's 800m Freestyle Relay
1. UBC    8:00.43        Anna Dumont-Belanger, Camrynm Stannard, Emma O'Croinin, Josie Field
2. Calgary    8:04.33    Hannah Bennett, Rebecca Smith, Marit Anderson, Avery Movold
3. Victoria    8:22.36    Amanda McCallum, Sophie Tarrant, Cameron Hill, Emma Cabral

Men's 800m Freestyle Relay
1. Calgary    7:14.57  Ian Friesen, Nathan Versluys, Paul McKenzie, Richie Stokes  
2. UBC    7:16.96        Blake Tierney, Justice Migneault, Brodie Young, Hugh McNeill
3. Victoria    7:26.14    Padric McKervill, Maxwell Fang, Ricky Millns, Jacob Rambo

-UC-