U Sports Champs Day 2: Toronto Women Cut Into UBC’s Lead in Tight Team Battle

2024 U SPORTS MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 7-9, 2024
• Pointe-Claire Aquatic Centre, Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada
• Short Course Meters (25 meters) Prelims/Long Course Meters (50 meters) Finals
• Championship Central
• Meet Schedule
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Day 1 Recap

U SPORTS staff contributed to this report.

The second day of the U SPORTS Championships saw the Toronto men extend their lead while the Toronto women cut into UBC’s advantage on the women’s side.

The UBC women have won four of the last six U SPORTS titles, but they’re looking to reclaim the crown this year after losing last year to Toronto.

The meet concludes Saturday with morning prelims at 9:30 a.m. EST and evening finals at 5:30 p.m.

Men’s Day 2 Recap

Team Standings:

1. Toronto, 788 points;

2. Calgary, 623.5;

3. UBC, 612.5;

4. McGill, 600;

5. Ottawa, 350.5;

6. Western, 268;

7. Alberta, 244;

8. Waterloo, 183;

9. (tie) Victoria and Laval, 121.5;

11. Dalhousie, 96;

12. McMaster, 87;

13. Lethbridge, 76;

14. Laurier, 71;

15. York, 64;

16. Carleton, 50;

17. Acadia, 47;

18. Memorial, 46;

19. Sherbrooke, 44;

20. Manitoba, 41.5;

21. UQTR, 17;

22. Regina, 16;

23. Montréal, 15;

24. UNB, 11;

25. Mount Allison, 5.

Memorial University freshman Chris Weeks became the first swimmer from his school to break a U SPORTS Championship meet record with a personal-best 23.90 in the 50-meter butterfly. He dipped under 24 seconds for the first time in his career, taking more than half a second off his previous-best 23.90 from Canadian Trials last year. In the process, Weeks erased the meet record of 24.04 set by UBC’s Coleman Allen back in 2015.

“I’m feeling pretty good right now,” said Weeks, who turns 19 on Sunday. “Going into the race, I was just thinking about executing everything that I was practicing in my training, try my hardest and really fight for that win. I was actually hoping to break the record in the morning (prelims), so I was pretty disappointed (when that didn’t happen) and was kind of losing sight of it. I knew in my morning swim that there were a couple of things that I needed to fix and work on. I just stayed with the program and fought really hard. I thought that it was going to be a close race between me and a couple of guys and I just pushed right to the finish.”

Another highlight came in the 800 freestyle relay, where McGill freshman Artiom Volodin started cramping on the leadoff leg after swimming the 400 free earlier in the session. Despite sitting in 6th place after the first leg of the relay, French junior Pablo Collin, senior Bruno Dehem-Lemelin, and freshman Mats Baradat rallied the Redbirds (7:32.29) past Toronto (7:32.99) and UBC (7:33.68) for a thrilling comeback victory.

“I would have been happy with any medal in this relay,” McGill head coach Peter Carpenter said. “My strategy all along was to put Pablo in the second leg because I want us to be at least in the race, if not the lead, after two legs.

“Art did a good job in leadoff but unfortunately, he dealt with a cramp at the 150m mark because he had to swim a tough double with a 400 free and a 200 free on the relay tonight,” Carpenter added. “He barely made it to the wall, then Pablo goes in and killed it. Then we had Bruno go in with the lead that Pablo was able to get. Bruno was excited and took it out hard. He built a lead that I think crushed the spirit of the others. It was risky because he was hurting pretty good on the last 75 meters but he managed to get to the wall and give Mats enough of a cushion to hold off the guys from UBC and Toronto.”

Toronto boasted a pair of individual champions on Friday night courtesy of junior Liam Weaver in the 50 free (23.72) and sophomore Ben Loewen in the 200 IM (2:03.66). The Varsity Blues lead Calgary by 164.5 points heading into the final day of action after starting the session with a 76-point edge.

“I’m super pumped,” Loewen said. “I felt really good and got on the podium with a current teammate (bronze medalist Jacob Gallant) and a former teammate (Calgary’s Charlie Skalenda), which is really cool… I really feel like it’s our time right now. We’ve been under construction for quite a while but we’ve got an absolute group of dogs and if we keep swimming the way we are, we (will be) the team to beat.”

UBC picked up a couple 1st-place finishes between Liam Clawson-Honeyman in the 400 free (3:58.16) and Hugh McNeill in the 100 back (55.44). Ottawa junior Hugo Lemesle also captured an individual crown in the 200 breast (2:14.80), making it a sweep of the discipline after taking the 100 breast title on Thursday night.

“I’m feeling really good, I’m really proud of what I have done all year,” Lemesle said. “I feel like the hard work has finally paid off. The game plan strong and smooth for the first 50 meters, try to stay with (the leaders) and after that, I just wanted to race hard and if I had more (energy) left in the last 50, then just go full out.”

Women’s Day 2 Recap

Team Standings:

1. UBC, 1,003 points;

2. Toronto, 965.5;

3. Calgary, 587.5;

4. McGill, 497.5;

5. Western, 236.5;

6. McMaster, 154;

7. Victoria, 142.5;

8. Manitoba, 137.5;

9. Alberta, 124;

10. Dalhousie, 115;

11. (tie) Waterloo and Lethbridge, 95;

13. Montréal, 84.5;

14. Acadia, 76;

15. Laval, 64;

16. Guelph, 62;

17. Ottawa, 44;

18. Brock, 36;

19. Regina, 25.5;

20. Sherbrooke, 22

21; Mount Allison, 5;

22. Queen’s, 1.

The U SPORTS women’s title appears headed for a tight finish on Saturday as defending champion Toronto cut UBC’s lead to 37.5 points during the second finals session.

Toronto fifth-year Ainslie McMurray made it a three-peat in the 50 free (25.68) while also placing 3rd in the 50 fly (27.85) and anchoring the Varsity Blues’ 800 free relay (8:27.95) to a 3rd-place showing behind Calgary (8:25.42) and UBC (8:21.95). Toronto sophomore Nina Mollin triumphed in the 200 IM (2:18.35) just ahead of UBC senior Anna Dumont-Belanger (2:18.50) after winning the 100 fly on Thursday night.

“I’m really tired and happy because last year, I kind fumbled in the backstroke and didn’t expect to be winning any gold this year,” Mollin said. “It’s a very hard competition and I’m very happy to finish the race with everything that I’ve got. My goal heading in (to this meet) was to podium in all my events and so far, I’ve got three out of four. Tomorrow’s the 200 fly and that’s like one of my better events, so I’m just really hoping that it goes well.”

Toronto junior Anna Hein brought home the 400 free title in 4:22.48, eking past McGill’s Naomie Lo (4:22.71) by just a couple tenths.

Dumont-Belanger teamed up with Brooklyn Wiens, Jade Lo, and Rosalie Davidson to lift UBC to the 800 free relay victory (8:21.95). The Thunderbirds also topped the podium individually thanks to Bridget Burton in the 100 back (1:02.16) and Eloise Allen in the 50 fly (26.86).

World Junior champion Alexanne Lepage emerged victorious in the 200 breast (2:27.92), a few seconds off her lifetime best from last September (2:24.70). On Thursday, Lepage captured the 400 IM crown and earned a runner-up finish in the 100 breast (1:08.07) behind Western’s Shona Branton (1:07.64). At 18 years old, she’s a contender to make the Canadian Olympic team in the event this summer.