The UofT men and UBC women were both able to defend their CIS victories from last year with huge victories at the 2014 CIS Championships in Toronto. The UofT men won over the UBC Dolphins 690-609.5. The UBC women were able to come out on top and create a huge division between themselves and the rest of the field, working up a total of 802.5 points to the University of Montreals 405.
Savannah King bounced back after finishing second in the 400m freestyle to Montreal’s Barbara Jardin yesterday despite being the CIS and Canadian record holder with a big win tonight in the 800m freestyle. King was off her CIS record time of 8:25.68 by a bit, but still managed to bring home the gold for UBC in 8:32.00. Caitlin Hodge from the University of Ottawa finished behind her in 8:37.63 tracking down Calgary’s Lindsay Delmar to do so. Delmar picked up the bronze in 8:38.38.
The men’s 50m breaststroke final ended in a dead heat for gold as the Varsity Blue Chris Manning and UBC Thunderbird Sergey Holson touched the wall at the same time, both clocking in a 27.45. Manning came fifth in the 100m breaststroke final earlier in the meet which was in fact won by Holson. Manning won the 50m freestyle last night though, the sprints being his specialty.
The women’s 50m breaststroke featured the famous CIS rivalry of UBC’s Tera Van Beilen and Calgary’s Fiona Doyle. Doyle won the 100m breaststroke on day one of the meet, beating Tera Van Beilen by just eight-one-hundredths. Van Beilen surged to a win in the 200m breaststroke on day two, taking the win in 2:21.18 to beat Doyle by around two-and-a-half seconds. Tonight, the girls faced off for the final time during these championships and Van Beilen emerged as the overall breaststroke champion, grabbing the gold in the 50 in 30.72. Van Beilen’s time was just one-one-hundredth shy of the CIS record set by former 200m breaststroke world record holder Annamay Pierse back in 2009.
Russell Wood emerged as the top backstroker at the meet with a completion of a backstroke sweep. After winning the 50 on night one and the 100 on night two, Wood posted a 1:54.79 to win gold and beat out top ranked 200m backstroker Matthew Myers from UofT. Myers finished in 1:56.65; Robert Bonomo from the University of Ottawa rounded out the top three with a 1:57.02 bronze medal performance.
Geneviève Cantin broke her own CIS record in the 200m backstroke final tonight by one-one-hundredth of a second. Cantin swam a 2:06.18 to take down a tough field which included last night’s 100m backstroke winner Gabrielle Soucisse from Montreal.
After this morning’s prelims Coleman Allen looked like he’d be able to run away with the gold in the 100m freestyle after being the only swimmer to break 49 seconds. Tonight, Dominique Massie-Martel from Laval stepped up and took home the gold in 48.41. Allen had to settle for silver in 48.75 followed by freshman Evan Van Moerkerke from the University of Guelph in 48.88.
Sandrine Mainville stepped up on the blocks yet again, and for the third time this meet she broke the previous CIS record in the event. Mainville led start to finish and grabbed the gold in 53.38 breaking UBC’s Heather MacLean’s record of 53.78. MacLean finished well behind Mainville in 54.96. With that win Mainville earned herself the Sprinter’s Cup; an award given to any swimmer who wins both the 50 and 100 freestyles at any CIS Championship.
University of Calgary’s Bogdan Knezevic came home with a huge win in the 200m IM from lane one tonight. Knezevic swam a 1:58.56 to take down top seed David Riley from the University of Toronto. Riley finished second in 1:58.87. Knezevic was the top ranked swimmer in the event heading into the meet.
Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson showed us once again just how dominant she is in the individual medleys, completing a domination of the two events with a win in the 200m IM tonight. Seltenreich-Hodgson took the lead on the breaststroke leg and never let go, taking the lead from Olympian Barbara Jardin. Seltenreich-Hodgson touched the wall well ahead of the rest of the field in 2:09.48. Erin Stamp finished second in 2:12.72.
The last individual event of the night was won by University of Calgary freshman Tristan Cote. Cote led start to finish in the men’s 1500m freestyle, fighting off all advances by UofT swimmer Zack Chetrat and University of Victoria swimmer Jon McKay. Cote finished the race in 15:06.02 followed by McKay in 15:11.00 and Chetrat in 15:13.07.
The UBC Women finalized the sweep of the relays with a huge win in the 4x100m medley relay. Not only did they grab their third relay gold, but they did it in CIS record timing. The previous record was set in 2012 by a UBC team which featured two of the four members from tonight’s relay (Tera Van Beilen and Heather MacLean). MacLean swim a great last 50m to just get her hand on the wall two one-hundredths ahead of her old record. The team grabbed gold in 4:02.43. The University of Montreal finished second, the University of Calgary third, and UofT fourth.
The UBC men followed in the footsteps of the women and also came home with a big win that allowed them to complete sweeping all three relays. The men swam a 3:34.10 to win the event followed by the University of Calgary Dinos in 3:36.95 and the University of Montreal in 3:38.10. The UofT team finished way back in fifth place behind the University of Laval.
Following the completion of the relays awards were given out. All swimmers who won a gold medal were honoured with being named CIS 1st team All-Canadians. All silver medallists were named CIS 2cnd team All-Canadians.
The men’s Rookie of the Year award was given to Tristan Cote. Cote won the 1500m freestyle tonight and finished third in the 400m IM earlier in the meet. He finished sixth in the 400m freestyle as well.
Erika Steltenreich-Hodgson earned the women’s Rookie of the Year Award after winning the 400m IM and setting a new CIS record in the event on night one. She also took home the gold in the 200m fly, 200m IM, and 800m freestyle relay. She came second in the 200m back. She was also named the overall women’s swimmer of the year for her outstanding swims.
For his efforts, Byron MacDonald earned the Coach of the Year award for his winning UofT men’s team. This was MacDonald’s second Coach of the Year award in as many years.
Steve Price was named the Coach of the Year for his women’s team. His team won the Canada West Championships earlier in the season and broke a record for the most points ever scored at a Canada West meet. They almost did it at the CIS Championships as well, just falling short of the CIS record. Price also won the award last year when his UBC girls won the CIS Championships.
The Men’s Swimmer of the Year award was given to UBC’s Coleman Allen. Allen had an amazing performance at the meet with multiple medals.
TEAM SCORES
Women
- UBC Thunderbirds 802.5
- University of Montreal 405
- University of Calgary 328
- University of Toronto 286
- Western University 265.5
Men (Nelson C. Hart Trophy)
- University of Toronto 690
- UBC Thunderbirds 609.5
- University of Calgary 405
- McMaster University 209.5
- Western University 200
For full meet results click here.