CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos men maintained their lead in the point standings and the women are hanging tough in second to the UBC Thunderbirds after a podium sweep and 15-medal haul highlighted the second night of the CW Championships in Calgary.

The home crowd was electric towards the end of the session where three Dinos swept the podium in the men's 200 freestyle, picking up maximum points for Calgary who leads the Thunderbirds 645-454 and after the women's 400 freestyle relay was upgraded to gold, the Dinos women are sitting strong in second with 532 points behind the Thunderbirds with 640.5. 

"It is so much fun to host this meet. The crowd is crazy and it just gets louder and louder each session and this is just so much fun," Dinos head coach Mike Blondal said following the session. "We've had some great racing in here tonight and I am really proud of our team." 

After finishing just shy of the podium at last year's conference championships, second-year Julianne Moore kicked off night two for the Dinos, setting a new personal best of 26.02 in the women's 50 freestyle to climb the podium and claim the bronze behind Manitoba's Ella Howe and Eloise Allen of the Thunderbirds. Sarah Corson placed sixth and Emily De Jager shaved off two tenths of a second to hit the wall in the new personal best time of 26.30 for seventh place. The Dinos were represented in the B-final by Isabella Duncan, Eliza Housman and Charlotte Wagner who finished 10th, 11th and 14th overall. 

Stephen Calkins grabbed his second individual gold medal of the weekend when he dominated in the men's 50 freestyle to touch in 22.19, a full body length ahead of UBC's Siu Lun Ho coming in at 22.69. Addison Butler rounded out the A-final in eighth place, while teammate Gibson Black swam to 11th overall in the B final. 

It was all Alexanne Lepage in the women's 400 individual medley. The Calgary rookie lead from start to finish, only extending her lead through the breaststroke leg where she split 1:18.06 – over four seconds faster than second-place finisher Camryn Stannard of UBC, to win the event with a time of 4:42.89. Calgary teammate Hannah Bennett raced home to pick up her first individual medal of the weekend, claiming bronze in 4:51.29. Kassua Dreyer finished 6th in the women's A-final while Emma Mitchell and Bella Mastroianni represented the Dinos in the B-final. 

In a thrilling finish, Nathan Versluys dropped the hammer in the final freestyle leg of the men's 400 individual medley, splitting 57.35 to catch and pass UBC's Hugh McNeil to defend his 400 IM Canada West Crown. His time of 4:17.63 was just shy of his 4:17.35 gold-medal winning time at the 2022 championships. The Dinos stacked the men's A-final with Charlie Skalenda, Matthew Syrgiannis and Patrick McCloy all picking up crucial points for the team championship.

In her first Canada West A-final, rookie Hayley French set a new personal best time of 1:02.64 in the women's 100 fly, finishing just off the podium in fourth place after watching Dinos teammate Kassua Dreyer definitively win the women's B-final in 1:02.77, over a second ahead of UVic's Shanna Tierney.

Flying solo in the men's 100 butterfly A-final, Thomas McDonald grabbed silver in 53.57 behind UBC's Lun Ho, touching for the win with his time of 52.77. Addison Butler was the only Dino in the B-final, finishing 12th overall. 

The Dinos had two seniors in the A-final of the women's 200 backstroke with Nadine Daoud touching for fourth in 2:15.69 followed closely by Calgary teammate Marit Anderson in fifth and Hayley French rounded out the top 16. 

The Calgary men advanced five swimmers to the A-final of the men's 200 backstroke and it paid off in a big way. Fifth-year Richie Stokes lead the charge for the Dinos, touching for silver in 2:00.08 behind UBC's Hugh McNeil. Stokes was joined on the podium by fellow fifth-year Mark McKenzie who posted 2:00.61. It was like seeing double when twin brother Paul McKenzie hit the wall in fifth for the Dinos and completing the 400 IM – 200 backstroke double, Charlie Skalenda and Matthew Syrgiannis raced to sixth and seventh, respectively. 

Reigning World Junior Champion in the 100 breaststroke, Alexanne Lepage set a new lifetime best of 1:06.12 to win the event over 2022 CW champion Eloise Allen of UBC who settled for silver in 1:08.75. Seniors Madison Macor and Mackenzie Wallich both set new lifetime bests in the 100 breaststroke at their final CW Championships. Macor narrowly missing the podium with her time of 1:09.78 and Wallich touching sixth in 1:10.82. It was a battle of the Bella's in the B final, with Isabella Duncan coming out on top to win in 1:11.48 over Calgary teammate Bella Mastroianni in 1:11.60. 

Despite setting a new lifetime best, 50 breaststroke bronze medallist Ian Cameron finished just off the podium in the men's 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:01.24. Calgary teammate and 50 breaststroke silver medallist from night one, Stephen Moore, finished sixth overall with Jett Verjee and Aiden Luykenaar rounding out the A-final in seventh and eighth, respectively. 

Hannah Johnsen picked up her second individual medal of the competition. Johnsen dropped over three seconds from her entry time to set a new lifetime best of 2:01.19 and grab the bronze medal behind UBC pair Anna Dumont-Belanger (1:59.65) and Camryn Stannard (2:01.13). Emily De Jager raced to fifth for the women's team and rookie Claire Bennett rounded out the A-final in eighth place. Marit Anderson and Hannah Bennett represented the Dinos from the B-final, finishing 12th and 14th, respectively. 

In the final individual event of the evening, the Dinos men dazzled the home crowd when they took the top four spots in the men's 200 freestyle. It was redemption for fifth-year Paul McKenzie after taking silver at the 2022 CW championships. McKenzie led the field to win his first ever individual Canada West title, taking the top spot in 1:48.64 followed by Calgary teammate Liam Dennett who set a new personal best of 1:49.51 for silver and Dinos' Nathan Versluys touching for bronze in 1:49.77. Gibson Black of Calgary finished behind his teammates in fourth and Stokes rounded out the A-final in eighth place. In addition to the A finalists, Patrick McCloy and Xavier Pimentel swam in the B final for the Dinos finishing in 12th and 14th, respectively. 

The 400 freestyle relays at the conclusion of the evening proved just as exciting when, in a turn of events, the Dinos women were upgraded to gold following a UBC disqualification. The team of Lepage, Moore, Johnsen and Sarah Corson combined for a winning time of 3:56.54 ahead of teams from Manitoba and Lethbridge. 

On the men's side, Calkins, McDonald, Butler and Dennett threw down some fast times to out-touch the Thunderbirds for gold with a time of 3:17.48, narrowly missing the conference championship record of 3:17.30 set by Calgary last year. 

The final day of racing begins tomorrow with preliminaries starting at 9 a.m., while the evening finals are scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m.

DAY 2 MEDALLISTS

Women's 50m Freestyle
1. Ella Howe, MAN (25.64)
2. Eloise Allen, UBC (25.66)
3. Julianne Moore, CGY (26.02)

Men's 50m Freestyle
1. Stephen Calkins, CGY (22.19)
2. Siu Lun Ho, UBC (22.69)
3. Minh Nguyen, ALB (22.79)

Women's 400m Individual Medley
1. Alexanne Lepage, CGY (4:42.89)
2. Camryn Stannard, UBC (4:47.57)
3. Hannah Bennett, CGY (4:51.29)

Men's 400m Individual Medley
1. Nathan Versluys, CGY (4:17.63)
2. Hugh McNeill, UBC (4:20.20)
3. Brodie Young, UBC (4:22.39)

Women's 100m Butterfly
1. Sela Wist, UBC (1:00.40)
2. Brooklyn Wiens, UBC (1:01.38)
3. Lora Willar, UBC (1:02.19)

Men's 100m Butterfly
1. Siu Lun Ho, UBC (52.77)
2. Thomas McDonald, CGY (53.57)
3. Jack Hayhoe, ALB (53.78)

Women's 200m Backstroke
1. Bridget Burton, UBC (2:09.62)
2. Lauren Crisp, VIC (2:11.98)
3. Kamryn Leslie, ALB (2:12.99)

Men's 200m Backstroke
1. Hugh McNeill, UBC (1:57.72)
2. Richie Stokes, CGY (2:0.08)
3. Mark McKenzie, CGY (2:00.61)

Women's 100m Breaststroke
1. Alexanne Lepage, CGY (1:06.12)
2. Eloise Allen, UBC (1:08.75)
3. Emma Spence, UBC (1:09.23)

Men's 100m Breaststroke
1. Ethan Hemeon, UBC (1:00.00)
2. Frederik Kamminga, ALB (1:00.96)
3. Tristan Bennett, LETH (1:01.23)

Women's 200m Freestyle
1. Anna Dumont-Belanger, UBC (1:59.65)
2. Camryn Stannard, UBC (2:01.13)
3. Hannah Johnsen, CGY (2:01.19)

Men's 200m Freestyle
1. Paul McKenzie, CGY (1:48.64)
2. Liam Dennett, CGY (1:49.51)
3. Nathan Versluys, CGY (1:49.77)

Women's 400m Freestyle Relay
1. CGY – Lepage, Moore, Johnsen, Corson (3:46.54)
2. MAN – Howe, Schanel, Pengilly, Fillion (3:49.82)
3. LETH – Wood, Liversuch, Lehman, MacLean (3:50.39)

Men's 400m Freestyle Relay
1. CGY – Calkins, McDonald, Butler, Dennett (3:17.48)
2. UBC – Ho, Blanco, McNeill, Gaunt (3:17.93)
3. ALB – Nguyen, Debruijn, Kamminga, Przyswitt (3:21.61)

TEAM SCORES

WOMEN
1. UBC, 640.5
2. Calgary, 532
3. Victoria, 192
4. Alberta, 190
5. Lethbridge, 171
6. Manitoba, 157.5
7. Regina, 71

MEN
1. Calgary, 645
2. UBC, 454
3. Alberta, 309
4. Lethbridge, 193
5. Victoria, 155
6. Manitoba, 118
7. Regina, 82
8. Thompson Rivers, 2

-UC-