MONTREAL (CIS) – The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds are once again the dominant team in CIS swimming. As the 2012 CIS national championships came to an end Saturday night at the University of Montreal's CEPSUM Pool, the T-Birds swept the team banners and individual MVP awards, while setting a meet record for most points in women's competition.
Championship website
The UBC women dominated the three-day meet from start to finish and ended up with a championship record 811.5 points, good for a remarkable 206-point advantage over the three-time defending champion Calgary Dinos (605.5). The Toronto Varsity Blues rounded out the podium (355.5). Calgary had set the previous standard of 791 points in 2009.
It marked the first women's title in four seasons for the Thunderbirds, who had captured a record 11 consecutive banners from 1998 to 2008 before watching archrival Calgary triumph each of the last three years.
The men's race was much closer. Heading into the final event, the always spectacular 4x100m medley, UBC held a slim seven-point lead over Toronto (524-517). The Thunderbirds secured the team title with a second-place finish in the relay behind Calgary, while the Blues settled for fourth position.
UBC ended up with 558 points and Toronto with 547, while two-time defending champion Calgary was a distant third at 383.
For the second straight day, the Varsity Blues moved ahead of the T-Birds in the men's standings midway through the evening session only to see their rivals retake the lead in the next final. On Saturday, the swing event was the 100 freestyle as UBC swimmers took four of the first six spots, including gold and silver.
The T-Bird men had won a record 10 team championships from 1998 to 2007, and topped the standings again in 2009. Calgary had claimed three of the last four men's banners, including the last two.
"I'm really proud of this team. For a first CIS championship, it was a memorable experience," said first-year UBC head coach
Steve Price. "Our school has a storied history in swimming and all the credit goes to the athletes, who gave everything they had to win the two titles. The organizing committee was exceptional as well, they did a tremendous job.
"All we needed to do going into the men's really was execute. We knew the title was right there, and our four swimmers did what they had to do."
UBC swept all four individual awards on the women's side. Olympian
Savannah King of Vancouver was named swimmer of the year,
Tera Van Beilen earned top-rookie honours, Price was voted coach of the year, while
Hayley Pipher of Kelowna, B.C., received the inaugural Student-Athlete Community Service Award.
On the men's side, T-Bird standout
Tommy Gossland of Nanaimo, B.C., was named MVP. The other male awards went to Alberta's Joe Byram of Vernon, B.C. (rookie of the year), Toronto's Byron MacDonald (coach of the year) and Laval's Simon Couillard-Castonguay of Quebec City (Student-Athlete Community Service Award).
King, who was named CIS rookie of the year last season and represented Canada at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, finished the weekend with five medals, including gold in the 800 and 400 free, silver in the 4x200 free relay, and bronze in the 200 back and 200 free.
After breaking both the championship and Canadian records in the 400 free on Friday, the second-year arts student set a new meet standard of 8:25.68 in the 800 free on Saturday, eclipsing the previous mark of 8:30.39 established by UNB's Carla Geurts back in 2003. Those two swims were the difference for the MVP award, which goes to the athlete with the highest aggregate point total for her two best races as based on Swim Canada's performance charts.
"I'm on top of the world!" said an elated King. "Winning a team title is even more thrilling than winning an individual gold medal. To experience something like this with all my teammates, I'll never forget this moment. University of Montreal did an amazing job, the atmosphere was wild.
"Of course, winning swimmer of the year is very nice as well. When you look at the list of athletes who have won the award, it's an honour to be part of that select group."
Gossland finished the meet with five gold medals, including in the 50, 100 and 200 free and the 4x100 free and 4x200 free relays, as well as silver in the 4x100 medley.
In addition to male-MVP honours, the fifth-year kinesiology student was awarded the Sprinter's Cup for his victories in the 50 and 100 free. He secured the trophy on Saturday with a winning time of 47.82 in the shorter event.
"This is epic! I couldn't have imagined a better way to wrap up my university career," said Gossland. "Our team work was impeccable and that's the result of hard work by everyone, including Steve, who really helped us throughout the season. As for the MVP award, I wasn't expecting it, so it's a nice surprise.
"There was so much noise here. The Carabins drum line was great. The atmosphere makes this moment even more magical."
In addition to King's performance in the 800 free, two more championship records fell on Day 3 to bring the weekend total to seven.
Freshman Geneviève Cantin of Jonquière, Que., a linguistics student at Laval University, clocked 2:0619 in the women's 200 back to shatter former Calgary star Katy Murdoch's 2009 time of 2:06.81.
In the women's 4x100 medley, the Thunderbirds put an exclamation mark on a dominating meet. The foursome of
Rachelle Salli of Langley, B.C., Van Beilen,
Grainne Pierse of Edmonton and
Heather MacLean of Toronto touched the wall in 4:02.45 to eclipse Calgary's performance from 2010 (4:03.28).
Van Beilen, in the women's 50 breast (31.01), and MacLean, in the women's 100 free (53.98), also won gold for UBC on Saturday.
Van Beilen finished the competition with medals in all three breaststroke events, including victories in the 50 and 100. MacLean claimed gold in the 100 and 200 free and silver in the 400 free, and set a championship mark on Thursday while swimming the first leg of the 4x100 free.
Calgary was victorious in three events on the final day, including Gleb Suvorov of Toronto in the men's 200 IM (2:01.13), Jason Block of Calgary in the men's 50 breast (28.09) and the medley relay comprised of Michael Lowenstein of Calgary, Block, Suvorov and Colin Miazga of Saskatoon (3:36.47).
After sweeping the breaststroke events in both 2010 and 2011, Block prevailed in the 50 and 100 this year but settled for silver in the 200.
The remaining gold medals on Saturday went to Toronto teammates Vanessa Treasure of Mississauga, Ont., in the women's 200 IM (2:13.93), and freshman Matthew Myers of Toronto, in the men's 200 back (1:56.46), as well as Western's Robert Wise of Dorchester, Ont., in the men's 1,500 free (15:14.02).
The University of Calgary will host the 2013 CIS swimming championships.
Four more records fell on Day 3, including a trio of championship marks and a Canadian standard.
Women's 800m Free:
Savannah King, UBC, 8:25.68 (CIS championship record)
Women's 200m Back: Geneviève Cantin, Laval, 2:06.19 (CIS championship record)
Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay: UBC, 4:02.45 (CIS championship record / Canadian record)
INDIVIDUAL HONOURS
Women Swimmer of the year:
Savannah King, UBC
Rookie of the year:
Tera Van Beilen, UBC
Coach of the year:
Steve Price, UBC
Student-Athlete Community Service Award:
Hayley Pipher, UBC
Men Swimmer of the year:
Tommy Gossland, UBC
Rookie of the year: Joe Byram, Alberta
Sprinter's Cup (single winner of both 50 and 100 free):
Tommy Gossland, UBC
Coach of the year: Byron MacDonald, Toronto
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Simon Couillard-Castonguay, Laval
NOTE (swimmers of the year): Female and male swimmers with the highest aggregate point total for his/her two best swims as based on Swim Canada's performance charts.
NOTE (All-Canadians): All gold medallists at the CIS championships - including relays - are first-team all-Canadians for the 2011-12 season. All silver medallists - who did not win a gold medal - are second-team all-Canadians.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
Women
1. UBC, 811.5 points (CIS championship record)
2. Calgary, 605.5
3. Toronto, 355.5
Men (Nelson C. Hart trophy)
1. UBC, 558 points
2. Toronto, 547
3. Calgary, 383
DAY 3 INDIVIDUAL MEDALLISTS (Saturday)
Women 800m Free
1.
Savannah King, UBC, 8:25.68 (CIS championship record)
2. Bridget Coley, Toronto, 8:37.71
3. Breanna Hendriks, Calgary, 8:44.68
Men 50m Breast
1. Jason Block, Calgary, 28.09
2. Brian Lee, Toronto, 28.17
3. Jake Armstrong, Western, 28.24
W 50m Breast
1.
Tera Van Beilen, UBC, 31.01
2.
Martha McCabe, UBC, 31.24
3. Fiona Doyle, Calgary, 31.37
M 200m Back
1. Matthew Myers, Toronto, 1:56.46
2. Joe Byram, Alberta, 1:57.12
3. Gleb Suvorov, Calgary, 1:58. 24
W 200m Back
1. Geneviève Cantin, Laval, 2:06.19 (CIS championship record)
2.
Rachelle Salli, UBC, 2:10.98
3.
Savannah King, UBC, 2:11.10
M 100m Free
1.
Tommy Gossland, UBC, 47.82
2.
Rory Biskupski, UBC, 49.19
3. Marc-André Benoit, McGill, 49.56
W 100m Free
1.
Heather MacLean, UBC, 53.98
2. Amanda Reason, Calgary, 54.02
3. Caroline Lapierre-Lemire, UQTR, 54.92
M 200m IM
1. Gleb Suvorov, Calgary, 2:01.13
2. Frédéric Le Blanc, Montreal, 2:01.40
3. Steven Bielby, McGill, 2:01.47
W 200m IM
1. Vanessa Treasure, Toronto, 2:13.93
2.
Brittney Harley, UBC, 2:14.36
3.
Laura Thompson, UBC, 2:14.62
M 1500m Free
1. Robert Wise, Western, 15:14.02
2. Chris Reith, Dalhousie, 15:19.86
3. Brian Yakiwchuk, Alberta, 15:24.21
W 4 x 100m Medley Relay
1. UBC, 4:02.45 (CIS championship record / Canadian record) (
Rachelle Salli,
Tera Van Beilen,
Grainne Pierse,
Heather MacLean)
2. Calgary 4:03.69 (Jessika Craig, Fiona Doyle, Jessica Johnson, Amanda Reason)
3. Alberta, 4:08.70 (Sasha Sproule, Kayla Voytechek, Erin Miller, Bobbie Mielnichuk)
M 4 x 100m Medley Relay
1. Calgary, 3:36.47 (Michael Lowenstein, Jason Block, Gleb Suvorov, Colin Miazga)
2. UBC, 3:38.68 (
Kelly Aspinall,
Sam Acton,
Rory Biskupski,
Tommy Gossland)
3. Alberta, 3:39.86 (Joe Byram, Stephen Giovanetto, Joshua Au, Robert MacKinnon)
