TORONTO – Hannah Johnsen, Alexanne Lepage and rookie Hunter Payne all were crowned national champions for the Calgary Dinos swim team to round out a busy three days in the pool at the 2025 U SPORTS Championships Saturday evening from the University of Toronto Varsity Pool.

The Dinos women alone scored 18 times across the final six events of the meet Saturday to capture a team bronze medal with 920.5 points - a mere 16 behind a McGill squad that had a strong final day. 

Meanwhile, Calgary's men's team also finished with a team bronze medal after racking up another 18 scoring finishes on Day 3 to finish with 860 points.

"What an ending to a great swim meet," Dinos head coach Mike Blondal said. "U SPORTS always comes down to the bitter end. There were some really stunning swims from many of our swimmers, like rookie Hunter Paybe in the 1500. Winning that event is a really big testament to the work he's done. Hannah Johnsen's win in the 200 back was spectacular. Overall, this was a good meet and we should all walk away satisfied with our work."

Setting an example to the rest of the competitors of the energy the Dinos were bringing to this last session, Hayley French and Madisen Jacques started off the night was a blowout swim. Both women swam in the A flight of 200 butterfly beside each other in lanes six and seven, swimming neck and neck the entire way with French stealing fourth place with a time of 2:15.81 and Jacques following in fifth. 

On the men's side, rookie Carter Scheffel had a nine-second best time in this event earlier in prelims. Why match this performance when you can top it? Scheffel knocked off more time after hitting the wall at 2:00.72 in second place in the B final and tenth overall in this event. 

Next up was the 50-meter breaststroke where nine Dinos proudly wore the Scarlet and Gold cap. 

Isabella Duncan, Alexanne Lepage and Brooklyn Pickford were up against a tight field in the A final. Lepage relied on her extensive breaststroke training to pull ahead on the last length and add another nation title to her collection after hitting the wall at 30.49, while Duncan and Pickford came in fifth and seventh, respectively. In the B flight, Danika Ethier (13th), Bella Mastroianni (14th) and Abby Gebhardt (15th) did an excellent job at increasing their stroke rate and loading up the points for Calgary in the event.

In the final heat of the men's 50 breaststroke, Stephen Moore went right after it wanting a spot on that podium, which ended up becoming a reality as he claimed his first individual bronze medal at this meet with a time of 27.53. Nicholas Duncan (14th) and Jett Verjee (15th) respectively earned points for the team in the B heat of this event. 

The 100 freestyle was next up with Eliza Housman flipping in second place after the first 50, holding that spot to finish second in the heat and tenth overall. Rookie Myriam Hickey moved up a few rankings with a new best time of 56.84. The C flight consisted of Julianne Moore and Claire Bennett, who wasted no time attacking the race, placing second in her heat with a new best time of 56.98. 

Stephen Calkins was the Dinos star in the men's 100 freestyle. The veteran used his strength and powerful underwater to secure a fourth-place finish. Gibson Black had an outstanding swim in the B final, pulling ahead in that last 25 meters to win his heat and place ninth overall. The C flight starred Thomas McDonald and Liam Dennett, who showed the crowd some outside smoke from lane one, moving up to fifth place in his heat with a new best time of 50.24. 

There was a Hannah duo in the women's 200 backstroke as Hannah Bennett and Hannah Johnsen were both in the A flight competing against each other on opposite ends of the pool. Johnsen had a stellar performance, really bringing it home in the second half of the race, earning a national title from lane seven with a time of 2:09.94 - over two seconds ahead of the next finisher. Bennett also finished strong and touched the wall sixth in 2:15.15 in her final swim as a Dino as she is graduating in the spring, ending an amazing swimming career with another strong showing.

There was a huge best time from Charlie Skalenda in the men's 200 backstroke as he now sits at 1:57.73, which moved him up from eighth to fifth place. Aiden Luykenaar, Henry Sclater and Matthew Syrgiannis all respectively earned points for the team in this event as well.

The 800 freestyle is a long and demanding race and distance specialist Emily De Jager (8:57.98) used her extensive experience swimming this race to move up to sixth place. 

On the men's side, Hunter Payne dominated the field in the 1500 freestyle as he did an excellent job pacing each 100 and even led his race with a best time at the 800 meter mark. Payne finished with a lifetime best of 15:09.90 and claimed his very first national title, beating defending champ Olivier Risk by nearly six seconds. Xavier Pimentel, who swam this timed final in the morning, finished in sixth place in 15:29.32. 

The long-anticipated meet came to a wrap with the men's and women's 400 medley relay. The Dinos have a legacy of swimming extremely well in this event and often use this event to increase their team scores and Saturday was no different. The women had Johnsen lead the way in backstroke, followed by Lepage (breaststroke), Jacques (butterfly) and Housman (freestyle) bringing it home, securing a second place finish after an incredible race. 

Last to swim was the men's relay which starred Calkins (backstroke), Nicholas Duncan (breaststroke), McDonald (butterfly) and Black (freestyle). The steaks were incredibly high in this race as the Dinos were battling against McGill for the third place team finish, but Calgary never backed down from a battle and gave it everything they had left in the tank. Ultimately, it was the University of Calgary Dinos who secured the bronze medal finish with a time of 3:34.82.

"Going into this session, we knew we would have to fight and that every point would matter," Hannah Bennett said post-meet. "Although it may not have been the outcome we wanted, I couldn't be more proud of this team. We were there for each other and fought til the end. It is an honour to be a Dino."

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
WOMEN
1. UBC, 1472.0
2. McGill, 936.5
3. Calgary, 920.5
4. Toronto, 708.0
5. Alberta, 366.0
6. Western, 264.0
7. Victoria, 231.0
8. Ottawa, 219.5
9. McMaster, 198.5
10. Guelph, 196.0
11. Lethbridge, 195.5
12. Dalhousie, 176.0
13. Brock, 170.0
14. Laval, 168.0
15. Montreal, 158.0
16. Manitoba, 148.5
17. Waterloo, 143.0
18. Acadia, 80.0
19. Sherbrooke, 8.0
20. UNB, 2.0

MEN
1. UBC, 1305.5
2. Toronto, 1078.0
3. Calgary, 860.0
4. McGill, 754.5
5. Alberta, 412.0
6. Western, 316.0
7. Victoria, 267.5
8. Ottawa, 260.0
9. Waterloo, 224.0
10. Lethbridge, 166.5
11. Laval, 146.5
12. York, 128.0
13. McMaster, 117.0
14. Laurier, 108.0
15. Memorial, 86.5
16. Dalhousie, 82.0
17. Montreal, 68.0
18. Manitoba, 65.0
19. Sherbrooke, 58.0
20. Carleton, 51.5
21. Regina, 50.0
22. UNB, 38.0
23. Acadia, 34.0
24. Brock, 28.5
25. UQTR, 4.0

DINOS RESULTS

Women's 200 Butterfly
4. Hayley French – 2:15.81
5. Madisen Jacques – 2:17.33
29. Monica Oleszczuk – 2:25.23

Men's 200 Butterfly
10. Carter Scheffel – 2:00.72

Women's 50 Breaststroke
1. Alexanne Lepage – 30.49
5. Isabella Duncan – 32.18
7. Brooklyn Pickford – 32.47
13. Danika Ethier – 32.47
14. Bella Mastroianni – 32.71
15. Abby Gebhardt – 32.86

Men's 50 Breaststroke
3. Stephen Moore – 27.53
14. Nicholas Duncan – 28.27
15. Jett Verjee – 28.72
39. Alex McDonald – 29.62

Women's 100 Freestyle
10. Eliza Housman – 56.19 
12. Myriam Hickey – 56.84
18. Claire Bennett – 56.98
23. Julianne Moore – 57.78
29. Angel Loseth – 58.35

Men's 100 Freestyle
4. Stephen Calkins – 48.50
9. Gibson Black – 49.34
19. Thomas McDonald – 50.06
21. Liam Dennett – 50.24
28. Addison Butler – 50.61
29. Ethan Fast – 50.62

Women's 200 Backstroke
1. Hannah Johnsen – 2:09.94
6. Hannah Bennett – 2:15.15
23. Brooklyn Avey – 2:22.38
25. Hayley French – 2:22.49

Men's 200 Backstroke
5. Charlie Skalenda – 1:57.73
15. Aiden Luykenaar – 2:03.47
18. Matthew Syrgiannis – 2:01.45
23. Henry Sclater – 2:04.36

Women's 800 Freestyle
6. Emily De Jager – 8:57.98
23. Claire Bennett – 9:19.24

Men's 1500m Freestyle
1. Hunter Payne – 15:09.90
6. Xavier Pimentel – 15:29.42
16. Charlie Skalenda – 15:49.36
20. Patrick McCloy – 15:55.18
24. Matthew Syrgiannis – 16:00.19

Women's 400 Medley Relay
2. Johnsen, Lepage, Jacques, Housman – 4:03.89

Men's 400 Medley Relay
3. Calkins, Duncan, McDonald, Black – 3:34.82

MAJOR AWARD WINNERS
Men's Athlete of the Meet Award: Finlay Knox, UBC
Women's Athlete of the Meet Award: Kayla Sanchez, UBC
Men's Rookie of the Year: Nathan Thomas, Toronto
Women's Rookie of the Year: Raphaëlle Tremblay, Laval
Men's FOX 40 Coach of the Year Award: Paul Birmingham, Alberta
Women's FOX 40 Coach of the Year Award: Peter Carpenter, McGill
Men's Community Service Award: Erik Leinseisen, McGill
Women's Community Service Award: Marcella Whelan, Memorial
 
-UC-