The CIS Championships are finally here, the first day of competition starting tomorrow. The University of Toronto men and the University of British Columbia women are the clear favourites heading into the meet, both teams hoping to defend their titles from last year. The CIS Championships are fairly unpredictable, and there are many teams this year that could cause some big upsets.
The UofT Varsity Blues have had a pretty great season so far. Out of nine meets, the women’s team is currently sitting undefeated; the men taking their only loss to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas way back in early November. They won their divisional championships, the OUA’s, and are heading into the CIS Championships undisputedly as one of the top three teams.
Currently the University of Toronto men sit on top of three University rankings: Chris Manning in the 50m freestyle, Matthew Myers in the 200m backstroke, and Zack Chetrat in the 200m fly. All three standout swimmers have the potential to medal and final in multiple events. Chetrat, the fly specialist, will also be swimming the 100m. Manning who’s expertise lies in sprint freestyle will be competing in the 100m freestyle against Evan Van Moerkerke from the University of Guelph.
UofT head coach Byron MacDonald changed up the program a little this year to generate some fast results, “we’ve moved our strength training for the sprinters to the afternoon from the morning. I think that might’ve had a positive effect on our sprinters.”
This might be true for the men, but it’s clear that some of the women are having breakthrough results as well. Standout swimmer Paige Schultz is the only swimmer on the team to currently be ranked first in an event (100m IM) heading into the meet. The women’s team doesn’t have the depth that the men’s does.
The importance of having top ranked swimmers isn’t that high according to MacDonald. “A lot of people don’t realize it…your winners are important, but they really are nowhere as important as having a large team.” The University of Toronto team is one of the larger teams going into the meet, which will give them a huge advantage. “You have to have depth; if you don’t have depth you will not win,” MacDonald said.
The truth behind that statement can be shown in how the point system works at the meet. A seventh and eighth place finish in an event generates more points than a gold medal performance, meaning that overall depth is key for a championship win.
A team that’s full of depth is the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds led by head coach Steve Price. The UBC women have been absolutely unstoppable this season, even setting a new record for most points at the Canada West meet in late January.
The women’s team boasts three Olympians: Tera Van Beilen, Savannah King, and Heather MacLean. Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson represented Canada at the world championships, rounding out a field of very impressive swimmers. King is currently ranked first in the 400m freestyle and 800m freestyle, the latter being her specialty. Van Beilen who’s a breaststroke specialist is sitting on the top of the rankings in the 200m breaststroke, but could quite possibly sweep the breaststroke events at the meet. Seltenreich-Hodgson is ranked first in the 200m IM.
“On paper we probably have the best depth and we think we can be on top at the end of the day,” Price stated regarding the women’s roster. The men’s UBC roster is full of young swimmers. The team does not have a single senior swimmer on the team, relying purely on young talent to stay afloat against teams like the University of Toronto.
The men’s team boasts the likes of Coleman Allen who won multiple CIS titles last year. Allen is currently ranked first in the 50m fly, 100m fly, and 100m IM. The men faced off against UofT on Oct. 31st, 2013, falling to them 93-86. UBC definitely does have the potential to pull off a win in the men’s competition, but will have to get past UofT and the University of Calgary team to do so.
Price said, “We hope that we’re a challenge against Toronto for the men.”
The University of Calgary team is another powerhouse that could potentially defeat UBC and UofT for the men’s title. The Calgary women were no match for the UBC women at the Canada West meet in late January, but the men put up a very good fight although finishing second 186 points behind.
Coach Mike Blondal has been working with them since his Christmas training camp, instilling some new techniques that might help shake the odds in their favour. “Since Christmas camp we’ve really been working on our back-end and back-end speed,” Blondal said.
According to Blondal they’re currently in a rebuilding year after losing two major competitors: Jason Block and Gleb Suvorov. The team’s been heavy on recruiting, picking up some of Canada’s top young athlete’s such as Tristan Cote who used to swim for the Etobicoke Swim Club.
Cote is currently ranked first in the 400m IM and 1500m freestyle, an all-around threat in a couple events. Along with Cote Russell Wood and Bogdan Knevevic are two of the top swimmers on the men’s roster. Wood represented Canada at the World Championships and is currently ranked first in the 50 and 100m backstrokes. Knezevic is ranked first in the 200m IM.
On the women’s side, they’ve got a very small team so they’ll have to fight very hard to get into the top three. Fiona Doyle is their strongest asset, being ranked first in the 50, and 100m breaststroke. Doyle will have her hands full with UBC’s Tera Van Beilen if she wants to take home both golds.
Other than the UofT, UBC, and UofC, the only team that has a true potential of finishing in the top three of the male or female rankings is the University of Montreal. The team currently secures the most first ranked spots out of any female roster. Sandrine Mainville is ranked first in the 50m and 100m fly. Olympian Barbara Jardin has the most top ranked events out of any female athlete with top rankings in the 200m free, 200m fly, and 400m IM.
The University of Montreal doesn’t have the depth that the other three teams have, but with some standout swimmers including backstroker Gabrielle Soucisse, they could make a definite splash at these championships.
Going into the meet, these are our current rankings:
MEN
1. University of Toronto
2. University of British Columbia
3. University of Calgary
WOMEN
1. University of British Columbia
2. University of Montreal
3. University of Toronto
The meet will start tomorrow and finish on Saturday night. Prelims start at 10am, finals at 6pm. Finals will be broadcasted live here every night starting at 5:45. For full meet results click here. For psych sheets click here.