LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – The University of Calgary Dinos men's swim team has won the west.

In a story of redemption after the Dinos men fell to the UBC Thunderbirds by just five points at the 2019 Championships, the Dinos men have finally claimed the conference championship banner and trophy with 924.5 points, topping UBC's 860 for the first time in a decade. The victory is the Dinos' first since the 2012-13 season, and marks Calgary's 21st Canada West men's swimming title, tying them with the Thunderbirds for the most in conference history.

"I couldn't be prouder of this team and what we did together," said Calgary's third-year swimmer Paul McKenzie, who picked up four medals for the Dinos over the weekend. "There were four of us left from the meet three years ago where we lost by only a few points, so redemption was definitely the message all weekend and everyone played their role to help us win."

Despite outstanding performances highlighted by two Canada West records and a 14-medal haul, the Dinos women couldn't hold off the Thunderbirds to defend their title, settling for the team silver. Calgary finished with 810.5 points after the three days of competition. UBC claimed their 32nd championship banner with 918 total points.

"We had a great swim meet," noted Dinos head coach Mike Blondal when asked about his final thoughts of the championships. "It was a tough battle and was still pretty close at the end, but winning the banner over UBC is a big accomplishment for our men's team."

Rookie Charlie Skalenda was a major addition for the UCalgary men. The Toronto, Ont. native picked up two individual medals in his first CW championships, the first a silver on night two in the men's 400 IM where he joined Dinos teammates Nathan Versluys and Richie Stokes on the podium to sweep the event, and the second a bronze on night three where he clocked a new personal best time of 2:01.72 in the 200 IM behind UBC's Justice Migneault and once again his teammate Versluys. 

Skalenda was honoured as the Canada West Men's Rookie of the Year after accumulating 1473 FINA points in his top two performances over the weekend.  

"Being a part of this team makes it feel as if I am racing for something more than just myself," Skalenda said. "To receive this award really means a lot since it is something I can only achieve once in my swimming career. To do it during a competition where I can be proud of my efforts and performances while being supported by everyone on the team to push me to do my best is a great feeling. I couldn't have done it without them."

In his return to CW competition, Stephen Calkins also raked in some major points for the Scarlet & Gold. Calkins collected 71.5 points for the men's team, winning bronze medals in both the 50 freestyle and 50 backstroke, and gold in 100 freestyle and 50 butterfly events. Calkins' time of 23.74 in the 50 butterfly on night one was also a new championships record, besting the previous record of 23.85 set by UBC's Luke Peddie back in 2016. 

On the women's side, Olympian Rebecca Smith cleaned up at her second Canada West Championships. The 2021 CW Women's MVP captured gold in all four of her individual events including the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle as well as the 50 butterfly. Along with her hardware, the Red Deer, Alta. native set a new championship record in the women's 50 freestyle, eclipsing the previous championship record of 25.12 set four years ago by UBC's Hoi Lam Tam. Smith also helped the Dinos' 400 freestyle relay of Eliza Housman, Hannah Bennett and Avery Movold set a new championship record of 3:41.46, shaving one-tenth off the record set by UBC in 2017. 
 
Smith's world-class performance at the championships once again propelled her to be honoured as Canada West Women's MVP for the second year in a row and is now recognized as having the most championship records of any other woman in CW swimming history. 

Throughout the evening the Dinos added to their incredible 35-medal haul starting off with Thomas McDonald who repeated his bronze-medal performance from the 2021 championships touching the wall in 2:01.85. 

Alongside Smith once again taking the top spot in the women's 100 freestyle, Avery Movold was able to repeat her bronze-medal performance from the 2021 championships, clocking a time of 56.08, just shy of her best.  

Stephen Calkins did not disappoint in the men's 100 freestyle, dominating the field and touching a full second ahead of UBC's Blake Tierney and Canek Bracho in a time of 47.71. 

With a strong push in the final 50, Hannah Bennett managed to block the UBC podium sweep in the women's 200 IM by beating UBC's Emma Spence to the wall to touch for bronze in a time of 2:16.80, a second and a half clear of the Thunderbird. 

In the men's 200 IM Nathan Versluys and Charlie Skalenda doubled up the Dinos on the podium, collecting the silver and bronze for Calgary. 

Second-year Hannah Johnsen defended her title in the women's 100 backstroke after out-touching UVic's Lauren Crisp for the gold, clocking a time of 1:00.21 - nearly a full second ahead of second place in a dominant performance.

Rookie Emily De Jager finally got to climb the podium on the final evening of the championships after a fourth-place finish in the 200 freestyle on night two. The first-year blocked another UBC podium sweep by knabbing the bronze in the women's 400 freestyle in a time of 4:19.80 ahead of UBC's Rosalie Davidson. 

In the penultimate event of the evening, Nathan Versluys dealt some outside smoke to defend his 400 freestyle title from lane one. Versluys clocked 3:53.18 to top the podium, followed by Calgary teammate Paul McKenzie coming in for silver in 3:54.41.

Finally, the women's 400 medley relay team of Johnsen, Mackenzie Wallich, Smith and Movold picked up the silver, and the men's team of Richie Stokes, Matthew Gauthier, McDonald and Calkins claimed bronze behind UBC and the host Lethbridge Pronghorns.

Following the meet, Calgary swimmer Mark McKenzie was also recognized for his work not only in the pool, but in the community, as well, being named the recipient of this year's Canada West Student-Athlete Community Service Award.

The Dinos return to action in the new year when they will begin a busy winter semester, including meets in Toronto and Ottawa, which will prepare them for U SPORTS Swimming Championships in Victoria, BC, Feb. 24-26.

FINAL TEAM SCORES
Men:
Calgary - 924.5
UBC - 860
Lethbridge - 361.5
Victoria - 351
Alberta - 342
Regina - 183
Manitoba - 90
Thompson Rivers - 3

Women:
UBC - 918
Calgary - 810.5
Victoria - 547.5
Manitoba - 273.5
Alberta - 270
Lethbridge - 184.5
Regina - 72

DAY 3 MEDALS

Women's 200m Butterfly
1. Josie Field    UBC    2:11.71
2. Yasmin Perry    Victoria    2:12.93
3. Lora Willar    UBC    2:18.57

Men's 200m Butterfly
1. Padric McKervill    Victoria    1:59.36
2. Diego Paz    Alberta    2:00.81
3. Thomas McDonald    Calgary    2:01.85

Women's 100m Freestyle
1. Rebecca Smith    Calgary    53.88
2. Emma O'Croinin    UBC    55.86
3. Avery Movold    Calgary    56.08

Men's 100m Freestyle
1. Stephen Calkins    Calgary    47.71
2. Blake Tierney    UBC    48.70
3. Canek Bracho    49.41

Women's 200m IM
1. Anna Dumont-Belanger    UBC    2:15.20
2. Camryn Stannard    UBC    2:16.08
3. Hannah Bennett    Calgary    2:16.80

Men's 200m IM
1. Justice Migneault UBC    1:59.69
2. Nathan Versluys    Calgary    2:00.65
3. Charlie Skalenda    Calgary    2:01.72

Women's 100m Backstroke
1. Hannah Johnsen    Calgary    1:00.21
2. Lauren Crisp    Victoria    1:01.01
3. Megan Mozill    Manitoba    1:01.06

Men's 100m Backstroke
1. Blake Tierney    UBC    52.44
2. Chris Alexander    Lethbridge    53.39
3. Hugh McNeill    UBC    53.60

Women's 200m Breaststroke
1. Erin Epp    Victoria    2:29.59
2. Sophie Tarrant    Victoria    2:30.03
3. Eloise Allen    UBC    2:32.00

Men's 200m Breaststroke
1. Apollo Hess    2:10.25
2. Frederik Kamminga    Alberta    2:12.98
3. Ethan Hemeon    UBC    2:13.57

Women's 400m Freestyle
1. Emma O'Croinin    UBC    4:14.71
2. Anna Dumont-Belanger    UBC    4:18.07
3. Emily De Jager    Calgary    4:19.80

Men's 400m Freestyle
1. Nathan Versluys    Calgary    3:53.18
2. Paul McKenzie    Calgary    3:54.41
3. Diego Paz    Alberta    3:55.17

Women's 400m Medley Relay
1. UBC    4:03.63        Brooklyn Wiens, Eloise Allen, Josie Field, Emma O'Croinin
2. Calgary    4:04.61    Hannah Johnsen, Mackenzie Wallich, Rebecca Smith, Avery Movold
3. Victoria    4:07.20    Lauren Crisp, Sophie Tarrant, Yasmin Perry, Cameron Hill

Men's 400m Medley Relay
1. UBC    3:34.29            Blake Tierney, Justice Migneault, Keir Ogilvie, Dima Lim
2. Lethbridge    3:36.71    Chris Alexander, Apollo Hess, Parker Brown, Raine Arden
3. Calgary    3:37.73        Richie Stokes, Matthew Gauthier, Thomas McDonald, Stephen Calkins

Individual Award Winners:
Men's Community Service Award – Mark McKenzie (Calgary Dinos)
Women's Community Service Award – Olivia Roschat (Victoria Vikes)
Women's Coach of the Year – Derrick Schoof (UBC Thunderbirds)
Men's Coach of the Year – Peter Schori (Lethbridge Pronghorns)
Women's Rookie of the Meet – Eloise Allen (UBC Thunderbirds)
Men's Rookie of the Meet – Charlie Skalenda (Calgary Dinos)
Women's Swimmer of the Meet – Rebecca Smith (Calgary Dinos)
Men's Swimmer of the Meet – Apollo Hess (Lethbridge Pronghorns)

-UC-