2019 U SPORTS Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2019 U SPORTS ODLUM BROWN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Thursday, February 21 – Saturday, February 23
• Vancouver, British Columbia
• UBC Aquatic Centre
• Prelims: SCM (25m)
• Finals: LCM (50m)
• Event Schedule
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• Live Stream

The final night of the 2019 U SPORTS Championships will feature the 200 fly, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 back, the fastest seeded heats in the women’s 800 and men’s 1500 free, and then the 400 free relays to finish things off.

Kylie Masse will be looking to finish off the backstroke sweep at this competition for a fourth consecutive year in the women’s 200, while Markus Thormeyer of UBC aims for four individual gold medals as he comes in with the top seed in the men’s 100 free and 200 back.

Women’s 200 Fly Final

• USPORT Meet Record: 2:11.89, Katerine Savard (UDEM), 2015

1. Danielle Hanus, UVIC, 2:13.54
2. Hannah Genich, UT, 2:13.77
3. Megan Dalke, UBC, 2:15.40

It came down to the touch, but Danielle Hanus of Victoria successfully defended her title in the women’s 200 fly with a win over Hannah Genich.

Genich held the slight lead at the 150, but Hanus made up eight-tenths on the last 50 to run her down and win it in 2:13.54, with Genich, the 2017 champ, 2nd in 2:13.77.

Megan Dalke of UBC won bronze in 2:15.40 over Toronto’s Georgia Kidd (2:15.81).

Men’s 200 Fly Final

• USPORT Meet Record: 2:01.40, Coleman Allen (UBC), 2015

1. Davide Casarin, OTT, 2:00.41
2. Josiah Binnema, UBC, 2:00.95
3. Dmitriy Lim, UBC, 2:01.16

In an insanely tight final, Davide Casarin of Ottawa pulled off the come from behind win in the men’s 200 fly in a time of 2:00.41. Sitting 4th at the 150, he charged home in 30.26 to snag his second gold of the meet. He also broke the meet record by almost a full second.

Josiah Binnema, known more for his speed after winning the 50 and 100 fly here, held the lead through the 150 but wasn’t able to hold off Casarin coming home, still recording a personal best for the silver medal in 2:00.95.

His first year teammate Dmitriy Lim scored a big PB himself for bronze in 2:01.16, and last year’s gold and silver medalists Montana Champagne (2:01.65) and Osvald Nitski (2:03.59) were 4th and 5th.

Women’s 100 Free Final

• USPORT Meet Record: 54.73, Sandrine Mainville (UDEM), 2015

1. Rebecca Smith, UT, 55.45
2. Charis Huddle, WES, 56.02
3. Hoi Lam Tam, UBC, 56.22

Rebecca Smith of Toronto picks up her third individual gold medal of the competition with a win in the 100 free, clocking 55.45 to lead 50 free winner Charis Huddle (56.02) of Western.

Hoi Lam Tam (56.22) of UBC edged Toronto’s Aleksa Gold (56.26) and Montreal’s Katerine Savard (56.47) for the bronze.

Men’s 100 Free Final

• USPORT Meet Record: 50.25, Yuri Kisil (UBC), 2015

1. Markus Thormeyer, UBC, 48.71
2. Davide Casarin, OTT, 50.73
3. Mitch Ferraro, UT, 50.94

An absolutely dominant performance from UBC’s Markus Thormeyer earns him his third individual gold of the meet in the men’s 100 free, clocking a U SPORT Record and lifetime best time of 48.71. That destroys former teammate Yuri Kisil‘s mark of 50.25 from 2015, and slips under his old best of 48.89 from the Pan Pacs last summer. Thormeyer’s second 50 was notably a blazing 25.04.

Davide Casarin had a very impressive turnaround after his 200 fly win to snag the silver in 50.73, also coming home sub-26 in 25.79. That was a new personal best by over a second for the Italian, previously having been 51.81.

Mitch Ferraro of Toronto finished in the bronze medal position for the second consecutive year in 50.94, inching past his PB as well by five one-hundredths.

Women’s 200 Breast Final

• USPORT Meet Record: 2:27.63, Fiona Doyle (UOFC), 2015

1. Kelsey Wog, UMAN, 2:25.50
2. Renae Ledoux, UOFA, 2:32.50
3. Jasmine Raines, WLU, 2:32.98

Kelsey Wog from the University of Manitoba was dominant in the women’s 200 breast final, leading wire-to-wire to claim her second straight victory in this event and her fourth gold medal of the competition. Her time of 2:25.50 crushed the U SPORTS Championship record by over two seconds.

Renae Ledoux from the University of Alberta chopped two and a half seconds from her career best to win silver in 2:32.50, while Jasmine Raines of Wilfrid Laurier repeated as the bronze medalist in 2:32.98. Hillary Metcalfe of UBC was 4th in 2:33.21, narrowly missing out on a fourth individual medal.

Men’s 200 Breast Final

• USPORT Meet Record: 2:14.34, Eli Wall (UT), 2015

1. Jaren LeFranc, UBC, 2:16.41
2. Jonathan Naisby, USHER, 2:18.39
3. Benjamin Blackmon, UOFC, 2:19.17

UBC second year Jaren LeFranc blew by the field in the men’s 200 breast on the back half to win by a comfortable two seconds in 2:16.41, finishing less than a seven-tenths off his best time of 2:15.85. LeFranc finished 5th last season.

100 breast gold medalist Jonathan Naisby won silver in 2:18.39, giving him one medal of each color in the breaststroke events after adding a bronze in the 50. Benjamin Blackmon, who won silver to Naisby in the 100, picked up bronze in 2:19.17.

Women’s 200 Back Final

• USPORT Meet Record: 2:10.76, Kylie Masse (UT), 2016

1. Kylie Masse, UT, 2:08.70
2. Olivia Ellard, UBC, 2:13.75
3. Ingrid Wilm, UBC, 2:14.51

Never in doubt, Kylie Masse finishes off her fourth consecutive sweep of the backstroke events with the 200 win in a time of 2:08.70. That lowers her 2016 meet record by over two seconds, and puts her #2 in the world for the 2018-19 season behind only American Regan Smith (2:07.53).

Olivia Ellard (2:13.75) and Ingrid Wilm (2:14.51) earned the silver and bronze medals for UBC, with Ellard’s swim being a new personal best by over two seconds.

Men’s 200 Back Final

• USPORT Meet Record: 2:02.92, Matthew Myers (UT), 2015

1. Markus Thormeyer, UBC, 1:58.64
2. Robert Hill, UOFC, 2:02.93
3. Anders Klein, UOFC, 2:03.76

Markus Thormeyer negative split his way to a third straight win in the men’s 200 back, clocking 1:58.64 to come within eight-tenths of his lifetime best from the 2018 Commonwealth Games (1:57.82). He broke the meet record by over four seconds, and now has six gold medals at the meet with a shot at seven in the medley relay.

Thormeyer also now ranks 8th in the world for the 2018-19 season, and 3rd for the 2019 calendar year.

Calgary teammates Robert Hill (2:02.93) and Anders Klein (2:03.76), who were 3rd and 4th in 2018, both moved up one spot to grab the silver and bronze medals. The same goes for Victoria’s Josh Zakala, who moves up from 5th to 4th in 2:03.96.

Women’s 800 Free Timed Final

• USPORT Meet Record: 8:58.09, Bridget Coley (UT), 2016

1. Emily Overholt, UBC, 8:46.89
2. Marit Anderson, UOFC, 8:50.17
3. Megan Dalke, UBC, 8:51.14

Emily Overholt smashed both the U SPORTS record and her personal best to win her fourth individual gold of the meet in the women’s 800 free, clocking a time of 8:46.89. Overholt’s previous best, set back in 2014, was a 8:59.54. She joins Markus Thormeyer and Kelsey Wog with four individual golds at the competition.

Marit Anderson of Calgary fended off a late charge from UBC’s Megan Dalke to win silver in 8:50.17, while Dalke took bronze in 8:51.14 as the top four swimmers were all under the 2016 meet record of 8:58.09. Delphine Vandal of Ottawa was the other one to do so in 8:56.78.

Men’s 1500 Free Timed Final

• USPORT Meet Record: 15:36.06, Keegan Zanatta (UBC), 2016

1. Eric Hedlin, UVIC, 15:34.16
2. Hau-Li Fan, UBC, 15:34.24
3. Peter Brothers, UOFC, 15:50.47

Eric Hedlin and Hau-Li Fan battled head-to-head for the entirety of the fastest heat of the men’s 1500, with Fan leading the majority of the way. It wasn’t until the 1400 turn when Hedlin edged slightly ahead, and he managed to narrowly hold off Fan to regain the gold he won in 2017 in a time of 15:34.16. Fan was just eight one-hundredths back in 15:34.24.

These two swimmers were locked in a very similar battle in last year’s final, where Hedlin won the silver over Fan by 0.98. Hedlin won the gold in 2017 in what remains the USPORTS short course record of 14:42.99, and he also now owns the long course record as he took down Keegan Zanatta‘s 15:36.06 from 2016.

Peter Brothers of Calgary, last year’s gold medalist, picks up bronze this time in 15:50.47, and Nicolas Masse-Savard (15:54.35) of Montreal and Brodie Young (15:57.66) of UBC also cracked 16 minutes.

Women’s 400 Free Relay Timed Final

• USPORT Meet Record: 3:44.34, Montreal, 2015

1. Toronto, 3:43.90
2. UBC, 3:45.75
3. Montreal, 3:47.20

The Toronto women came away with the win and a new meet record in the 400 free relay, as Kylie Masse (55.52) and Rebecca Smith (54.78) pulled away from UBC and Montreal on their third and fourth legs. They clocked in at 3:43.90 to knock off Montreal’s 2015 mark of 3:44.34.

The Thunderbirds claimed silver in 3:45.75, with a 55.51 anchor from Emily Overholt, as they are now officially the team champions for the third year in a row with 1255 points. They led Toronto by just three points heading into the 800 free, but their dominant showing there solidified the victory.

Montreal, the gold medalists in 2018, won bronze with Katerine Savard leading them off in 56.70.

Men’s 400 Free Timed Final

• USPORT Meet Record: 3:23.94, Toronto, 2016

1. UBC, 3:23.39
2. Montreal, 3:26.56
3. Toronto, 3:26.75

It was a close race through 300 metres, and then Markus Thormeyer dropped a 48.32 anchor leg for UBC as they defend their title and set a new meet record in 3:23.39. Thormeyer finishes a perfect seven-for-seven in gold medals, and the Thunderbird men also win the team title for the third straight season.

In a tight race for silver, Montreal’s Antoine Bernard-Lalonde (50.53) outdueled Toronto’s Mitch Ferraro (50.73) on the anchor leg to give the Carabins the silver in 3:26.56 with the Varsity Blues 3rd in 3:26.75.

FINAL TEAM SCORES

WOMEN

1. UBC, 1255.5
2. Toronto, 1230.5
3. Montreal, 701
4. Calgary, 521
5. Victoria, 312
6. McGill, 299
7. Ottawa, 294
8. Alberta, 237
9. Western / Laval, 217
10. –

MEN

1. UBC, 1075
2. Calgary, 925.5
3. Toronto, 682
4. McGill, 550
5. Victoria, 472.5
6. Regina, 470
7. Ottawa, 442.5
8. Laval, 397.5
9. Montreal, 388.5
10. Alberta, 249