Ali Baggott, Vikes Communications
VICTORIA – The University of British Columbia swimming teams opened up the Canada West Championships hosted in Victoria in style leading the team standings for both men and women, while breaking three conference records.
The UBC women are in top spot of the team standings with 246 points and are followed by second-placed Calgary (135) and third-placed Victoria (103). On the men's side, the T-Birds lead with 228 points and are followed by Calgary (174) and Victoria (148).
"We've set some goals for ourselves within the competition, not only to get the titles but also some pretty lofty goals to challenge ourselves," said UBC head coach Stephen Price. "We are up against our own history and we want to accomplish our goals."
"That was an outstanding first night for us, a lot of people stepped up and we had swimmers that aren't on the national team getting on the podium which was fantastic. The whole team raises each other up."
UBC's Megan Dalke earned the first medal of the day taking gold in the 800m freestyle in a time of 8:31.35. Dalke trailed Calgary's Danica Ludlow for the opening lengths of the race but overcame the eventual silver medalist to top the podium.
Things kept flowing for the T-Birds as second year Ingrid Wilm set two Canada West records taking home gold in the 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke. UBC made it a podium sweep in the 50m butterfly as T-Birds Kirsten Douglas and Hoi Lam Tam won silver and bronze, respectively. Wilm's time in the fly was 26.88, edging out Alberta's Erin Miller's conference record time from 2012 of 27.31.
"She had the bit between her teeth," said UBC coach Price on Wilm's impressive performance. "Coming in here she wanted to win both those races and break those records so she accomplished both of her goals. She got up and got it done."
The T-Birds has another podium sweep in the men's 50m butterfly as Luke Peddie earned gold alongside his team mates Markus Thormeyer and Darian Fry.
In the men's distance event, Victoria's Eric Hedlin dominated the 1500m freestyle with a Canada West record-breaking time of 14:58.05. Hedlin beat former Vikes team mate Alec Page's record of 15:04.48 from 2013.
"I just kept looking at the clock to know exactly what my splits were," described Hedlin, who was in the very same race four years ago when Page set the 2013 conference record. "I was holding a pretty steady pace. I knew it was going to be close to the 15 minute mark so it was stressful in the middle but I pulled it out. I followed the plan and kept things steady."
Wilm's gold-medal time in the 50m backstroke was 27.15, beating her own Canada West record from last year (27.26). Victoria's Danielle Hanus earned silver in 27.59, while Manitoba's Dora Modrcin took bronze in 28.34.
Calgary's Robert Hill earned the Dinos' lone gold medal of the night as the second year won the men's 50m backstroke in 24.72. A pair of T-Birds rounded out the podium as Josiah Binnema finished second (24.73) and Darian Fry was third (24.73).
Manitoba's Kelsey Wog, a three-time gold medallist at the 2016 Canada West championship and Rookie of the Meet, won gold in the women's 50m breaststroke. Wog finished 31.01 ahead of Lethbridge's Christy Dashko, who took silver in 32.05.
In the men's 50m breaststroke Lethbridge's Joel Robinson topped the podium in 28.20, while Calgary's Frederik Kamminga took silver in 28.43 and UBC's Jonathan Brown finished in 28.43 for bronze.
UBC swept both 4x200m freestyle relay events with the women winning in 7:58.64, while the men dominated with a new Canada West record of 7:10.73. The T-Birds men broke a 2014 record of 7:16.88 that was previously held by UBC.
"The men destroyed the record and putting those guys all together is fantastic," added Price of UBC relay team Yuri Kisil, Markus Thormeyer, Jonathan Brown, Colin Eriks. "It was Colin Eriks first time as an anchor ever for us and to get a gold medal with record-breaking relay was great for him."
Canada West Swimming Championship action continues Nov. 25 with heats starting at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, while finals start at 5:00 p.m. Sunday heats start at 9:00 a.m. and finals begin at 3:00 p.m. All heats and finals will be webcast live by pay-per-view at Canadawest.TV.
DAY 1 RESULTS
Women's 800 Freestyle
1. Megan Dalke, UBC (8:31.35)
2. Danica Ludlow, CGY (8:37.18)
3. Maia Brundage, UBC (8:39.09)
Men's 1500 Freestyle
1. Eric Hedlin, VIC (14:58.05)* Canada West Record
2. Hau-Li Fan, UBC (15:08.65)
3. Josh Zakala, VIC (15:12.02)
Women's 50 Butterfly
1. Ingrid Wilm, UBC (26.88)* Canada West Record
2. Kirsten Douglas, UBC (27.11)
3. Hoi Lam Tam, UBC (27.23)
Men's 50 Butterfly
1. Luke Peddie, UBC (23.91)
2. Mark Thormeyer, UBC (24.05)
3. Darian Fry, UBC (24.84)
Women's 50 Backstroke
1. Ingrid Wilm, UBC (27.15)*Canada west record
2. Danielle Hanus, VIC (27.59)
3. Dora Modrcin, MAN (28.34)
Men's 50 Backstroke
1. Robert Hill, CGY (24.72)
2. Josiah Binnema, UBC (24.73)
3. Darian Fry, UBC (25.23)
Women's 50 Breaststroke
1. Kelsey Wog, MAN (31.01)
2. Christy Dashko, LET (32.05)
3. Hillary Metcalfe, UBC (32.05)
Men's 50 Breaststroke
1. Joel Robinson, LET (28.20)
2. Frederik Kamminga, CGY (28.42)
3. Jonathan Brown, UBC (28.43)
Women's 4x200 Freestyle Relay
1. UBC (Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson, Emily Overholt, Maia Brundage, Megan Dalke) 7:58.64
2. CGY (Danica Ludlow, Allison McCloy, Stefanie Schmidt, Robyn Lee) 8:10.44
3. VIC (Danielle Hanus, Kara Wilson, Taylor Snowden-Richardson, Kaity Gervais) 8:22.10
Men's 4x200 Freestyle Relay
1. UBC (Yuri Kisil, Markus Thormeyer, Jonathan Brown, Colin Eriks) 7:10.73 *Canada West Record
2. CGY (Sterling King, Peter Brothers, Teddy Kalp, Tristan Cote) 7:21.93
3. REG (Brian Palaschuk, Etienne Paquin-Foisy, Jacob Lee, Noah Choboter) 7:25.15
TEAM STANDINGS – After Day 1
WOMEN
1. UBC, 246
2. Calgary, 135
3. Victoria, 103
4. Regina, 94
5. Lethbridge, 88
6. Alberta, 85
7. Manitoba, 77
8. Thompson Rivers, 22
MEN
1. UBC, 228
2. Calgary, 174
3. Victoria, 148
4. Alberta, 116
5. Regina, 64
6. Lethbridge, 58
7. Manitoba, 22
Canada West Records Broken – DAY 1
Eric Hedlin, VIC, Men's 1500 Freestyle (14:58.05)
Ingrid Wilm, UBC, Women's 50 Butterfly (26.88)
Ingrid Wilm, UBC, Women's 50 Backstroke (27.15)
UBC Men's 4x200m Relay (Yuri Kisil, Markus Thormeyer, Jonathan Brown, Colin Eriks) 7:10.73