VANCOUVER – The first night of the Canada West Swimming Championships started off strong for the Calgary Dinos as both the men's and women's programs sit in second place through the first 10 events inside the UBC Aquatic Centre Friday.

Calgary's women's squad is in a tight battle, sitting in second place with 276.5 points through the opening day. UBC leads with 317, while Victoria sits in third at 177.5. On the men's side, the Dinos have 276 points, second only to UBC (372). Alberta is in an early battle for third at 178.5, with Victoria right behind at 153.5.

Patrick McCloy was the first star performance of the night in 1500 freestyle after destroying his entry time by nearly 25 seconds, now standing at 15:46.69. In the final heat of 1500 freestyle, the Dinos were represented by Xavier Pimentel, Hunter Payne and Matthew Syrgiannis who each swam best times. Payne wanted to show the field what he was made of during his first ever Canada West race. The rookie started off strong and steady and crept up on his competitors during the last half of the race to place third in the heat and fourth overall. 

Hayley French and first-year Angela Loseth carried the B final in 50 butterfly, placing second and third, respectively. The 50 butterfly for men was a knock out with Stephen Moore and Ian Cameron going 1-2 in the B final, and Thomas McDonald scoring his first piece of hard ware for the meet, earning a bronze medal with a time of 23.74.

The Dinos had four women in the A final of 50 backstroke. Hannah Johnsen securing the bronze medal, followed by Eliza Housman (fifth), Brooklyn Avey  (seventh) and Julianne Moore (ninth). 

First-year Ethan Fast faced a competitive heat and was just shy of a medal in 50 backstroke during his first ever Canada West Final with a time of 25.14, followed by teammate Thomas McDonald at sixth for more valuable points. 

The women's 50 breaststroke was one for the record book with five of the 10 swimmers in the A final wearing the Scarlet & Gold cap. Alexanne Lepage reigned in the first gold medal of the meet and set a new Canada West record with a time of 30.20, smashing the previous record of 30.54 set by Kelsey Wog of Manitoba. Lepage was closely followed by teammate Isabella Duncan who earned her first bronze medal of the meet with a time of 31.87, dropping her best time twice in one day. Danika Ethier, Abigail Gebhardt and Brooklyn Pickford all also added significant points for the Dinos in the event.

On the men's side, Stephen Moore hauled in a silver medal with a time of 27.50, beating his lifetime best. Jett Verjee carried the B final for the Dinos coming first in his heat. 

Both Dinos' 800 freestyle relay squads brought home silver medals to close out Day 1. Emily De Jager set the pace for teammates Hannah Johnsen, Hannah Bennett and Lepage as they coasted to second place. Meanwhile, the men were in a battle as Gibson Black, Stephen Calkins and Liam Dennett were in third place through three legs before Nicholas Duncan had a great anchor leg to chase down Victoria and bring home the silver medal.

"There was some good swimming tonight, as we have focused on putting our training into practice," Calgary assistant coach Ray Betuzzi said. "We have plenty more great racing to come in the next two days."

Speaking to the atmosphere on deck, Isabella Duncan said, "The nerves were high, but the energy from the team and spectators was even higher."

Day 2 gets underway Saturday with prelims set to start at 11 a.m. MT before finals, which are slated to begin at 6 p.m. MT.

-UC-