VICTORIA – The University of Calgary Dinos swim team had an impressive night in the pool, hauling in seven more medals including a third individual gold by
Stephen Calkins in his return to the U SPORTS championships.
The Dinos men matched their team silver-medal performance from the 2022 championships, picking up 876 points, while the women landed fourth with 818 points. Just like last year's championship, the UBC Thunderbirds hoisted the banner on the men's side, while the University of Toronto Varsity Blues were named champions on the women's side.
UBC's Josie Field claimed the first gold of the night, defending her title in the women's 200 butterfly with her time of 2:15.13. For Calgary though, it was rookie
Kassua Dreyer who opened the evening. Dreyer made her U SPORTS championship final debut when she raced to seventh in the women's C final, placing 23rd overall.
Michael Sava of Toronto pulled away in the final 50 meters to take the top spot in the men's 200 butterfly with a time of 2:03.57. Calgary's
Thomas McDonald – the 50 and 100 butterfly silver medallist – raced to 15th overall for the Dinos.
The Calgary women loaded up the finals of the 100 freestyle and it paid off with
Rebecca Smith touching for silver with a time of 55.62, just two one-hundredths behind Toronto's Ainsley McMurray (55.60).
Avery Movold swam to seventh in the A final, while rookie pair
Eliza Housman and
Emily De Jager swam in the B final and placed 13th and 16th overall.
Hannah Bennett and
Sarah Corson went 1-2 in the women's C final and
Julianne Moore shaved off a tenth of a second off her best time to finish 23rd.
Stephen Calkins was on fire, easily winning the men's 100 freestyle by a full body length over UBC's Siu Lun Ho (51.18), hitting the wall in a time of 49.65 to claim his third individual championship title. First year
Addison Butler improved on his best time to touch third in the men's B final with a time of 51.87.
Thunderbirds' Emma Spence became a new U SPORTS champion, winning the women's 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:33.08. For Calgary,
Madison Macor raced to 15th, while
Kassua Dreyer and
Isabella Duncan suited up for the C final finishing 20th and 23, respectively, with Duncan clocking a new personal best of 2:43.69.
The men's 200 breaststroke saw another new champion crowned when former Calgary Dino Frederik Kamminga hit the wall in 2:16.06 to win it for the Alberta Golden Bears. Toronto's Gabe Mastromatteo, winner of the 50 and 100 breatstroke, settled for silver behind Kamminga and Hugo Lemesle of Ottawa rounded out the top three. Calgary's
Ian Cameron touched second in the C final to finish 18th overall.
Second-year
Hannah Johnsen dealt some outside smoke to claim her second individual medal of the championships. The backstroke specialist dropped over three and a half seconds to grab the bronze medal in 2:15.93 behind Toronto pair Aleksa Gold (2:15.40) and Haley Klenk (2:15.42). Calgary's
Avery Movold rounded out the B final in 16th, while
Nadine Daoud and
Marit Anderson touched for 18th and 21st, respectively.
The Calgary men stacked the finals of the 200 backstroke with two in each of the A, B and the C. After winning the bronze in the men's 100 backstroke,
Richie Stokes added a silver to his collection when he touched in 2:02.86, behind UBC's Hugh McNeill (1:59.58) in the 200, while Dinos teammate
Mark McKenzie finished seventh. Rookie
Charlie Skalenda dropped four seconds to win the B final in 2:05.15, with
Sebastian Castillo touching for 14th. Swimming in the C final,
Charlie Kwinter and Daniel Gerlach placed 19th and 21st overall, respectively.
After winning the 200 and 400 freestyle events, UBC's Emma O'Croinin took a commanding victory it the women's 800 freestyle in 8:53.75 with Calgary's
Marit Anderson swimming home for the silver and Anna Hein of Toronto touching for bronze. Rookie
Emily De Jager set a new personal best time of 9:06.38 to finish just shy of the podium in fourth.
Toronto rookie Quinn Matteis reigned supreme in the men's 1500 freestyle, winning the event with a time of 15:51 by three and a half seconds over UBC's Liam Clawson-Honeyman (15:54.79) and William Risk of Victoria (15:55.79) coming home for bronze. Calgary second year
Xavier Pimentel raced in the A final, finishing seventh overall.
The Toronto Varsity Blues pulled away in the final 50 meters to win the women's 400 freestyle relay in a time of 3:47.16 over the UBC Thunderbirds (3:48.72) and the Calgary squad of
Avery Movold,
Rebecca Smith,
Eliza Housman and
Hannah Bennett touching for bronze with a time of 3:49.82.
It was all Dinos through the first three legs of the men's 400 freestyle relay, but it was the Thunderbirds that came out on top when UBC anchor Dima Lim entered the water and stormed toward the wall down the stretch to claim gold for the Vancouver-based team in 3:23.99, just six tenths short of the U SPORTS record. The Calgary squad of
Stephen Calkins,
Addison Butler,
Liam Dennett and
Ian Friesen picked up Calgary's final medal of the competition, touching for silver in 3:25.28 with McGill rounding out the top three.
Calgary finished this year's national championships by bringing home 21 total medals.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
Men's:
UBC – 1158.5
Calgary – 876
Ottawa – 795
Toronto – 783
McGill – 745.5
Lethbridge – 359.5
Victoria – 353
Alberta – 292
Waterloo – 207
Western – 196.5
Laval – 181
Montreal – 157
Dalhousie – 123
Regina – 101
Laurier – 85
McMaster – 82.5
Acadia – 65
York – 61.5
Sherbrooke – 17
Manitoba – 15
Carleton – 13
Memorial – 2
Women's:
Toronto – 1336
UBC – 1166.5
McGill – 872
Calgary – 818
Western – 378
Victoria – 331.5
Manitoba – 302.5
Dalhousie – 243
Laval – 231
Ottawa – 225
Alberta – 159.5
Guelph – 150
Lethbridge – 125
Montreal – 114
Waterloo – 96
Acadia – 89.5
McMaster – 62
Sherbrooke – 23
Regina – 6.5
DAY 3 MEDALLISTS
Women 200m Butterfly
1. Josie Field, UBC – 2:15.13
2. Nina Mollin, Toronto – 2:16.61
3. Naomie Lo, McGill – 2:17.20
Men 200m Butterfly
1. Michael Sava, Toronto – 2:03.57
2. Alex Boden, Waterloo – 2:04.35
3. Ambroise Petit, Laval – 2:04.52
Women 100m Freestyle
1. Ainsley McMurray, Toronto – 55.60
2.
Rebecca Smith, Calgary – 55.62
3. Emma O'Croinin, UBC – 55.74
Men 100m Freestyle
1.
Stephen Calkins, Calgary – 49.65
2. Siu Lun Ho, UBC – 51.18
3. Hazem Issa, McGill – 51.20
Women 200m Breaststroke
1. Emma Spence, UBC – 2:33.08
2. Lauren Shearer, Ottawa – 2:34.15
3. Sophie Tarrant, Victoria – 2:34.62
Men 200m Breaststroke
1. Frederick Kamminga, Alberta – 2:16.06
2. Gabe Mastromatteo, Toronto – 2:16.61
3. Hugo Lemsle, Ottawa – 2:16.70
Women 200m Backstroke
1. Aleksa Gold, Toronto – 2:15.40
2. Haley Klenk, Toronto – 2:15.42
3.
Hannah Johnsen, Calgary – 2:15.93
Men 200m Backstroke
1. Hugh McNeill, UBC – 1:59.58
2.
Richie Stokes, Calgary – 2:02.86
3. Carter Buck, Toronto – 2:02.95
Women 800m Freestyle
1. Emma O'Croinin, UBC – 8:53.75
2.
Marit Anderson, Calgary – 8:58.83
3. Anna Hein, Toronto – 9:04.39
Men 1500m Freestyle
1. Quinn Matteis, Toronto – 15:51.36
2. Liam Clawson-Honeyman, UBC – 15:54.79
3. William Risk, Victoria – 15:55.79
Women 4x100m Freestyle Relay
1. Toronto – 3:47.16
(Lily Chubaty, Aleksa Gold, Teagan Vander Leek, Ainsley McMurray)
2. UBC – 3:48.72
(Anna Dumont-Belanger, Emma O'Croinin, Brooklyn Wiens, Sara Godon)
3. Calgary – 3:49.82
(
Avery Movold,
Rebecca Smith, Elize Housman,
Hannah Bennett)
Men 4x100m Freestyle Relay
1. UBC – 3:23.99
(Siu Lun Ho, Blake Tierney, Canek Bracho, Dima Lim)
2. Calgary – 3:25.28
(
Stephen Calkins,
Addison Butler,
Liam Dennett,
Ian Friesen)
3. McGill – 3:25.62
(Pablo Collin, Bruno Dehem-Lemelin, Hazem Issa, Erik Linseisen)
MAJOR AWARD WINNERS
Outstanding Swimmer of the Year
Men: Gabe Mastromatteo, Toronto
Women: Emma O'Croinin, UBC
Rookie of the Year
Men: Quinn Matteis, Toronto
Women: Danika Ethier, Laval
Fox 40 Coach of the Year
Men: Dave Heinbuc, Ottawa
Women: Byron MacDonald, Toronto
Student-Athlete Community Service Award
Men: Pablo Collin, McGill
Women: Aleksa Gold, Toronto
Gold medal winners in individual events are awarded First Team All-Canadian status, while silver individual medallists earn Second Team All-Canadian recognition.
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