Women Defend Title, Men Finish 2nd at Canada West Swimming Championships

1/27/2013 3:40:00 PM

Victoria, BC - The UBC Thunderbirds women's swim team defended their Canada West Championship title, winning the Felstad Memorial Trophy for a fourth straight year, defeating the University of Calgary by 136.5 points. It was the opposite on the men's side, UBC finished in second place, 56.5 points behind the Calgary Dinos.

“I am pleased with how our teams battled, both the women and the men,” said UBC Thunderbirds head coach Steve Price. “We have a young men's team and was really impressed with Coleman Allen stepping up and Savannah King's performance, but we still have a lot of work before CIS nationals.”

It seemed only fitting the UBC women's team wrapped up the meet on Sunday by setting not only a new Canada West record, but a new Canadian record in the 400m medley relay. Erin Stamp (Guelph, ON), Tera Van Beilen (Oakville, ON), Grainne Pierse (Edmonton, AB), and Heather MacLean (Toronto, ON) clocked a winning time of 4:03.19.

Savannah King (Vernon, BC) was named the female swimmer of the meet, earning another gold medal on the final day of competition, winning the 400m freestyle in a Canada West record time of 4:06.55. She finished the three day event with 5 gold medals in the 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 200m backstroke, and the 4x200m freestyle relay.

The final day of competition also say Heather MacLean win the women's 100m freestyle in a time of 54.98, Erin Stamp took top honours in the 100m backstroke, touching the wall in 1:01.25, and Tera Van Beilen won the women's 200m breaststroke in 2:24.00.

On the men's side Coleman Allen (Spokane, WA) was named the male swimmer of the meet, finishing the three day event with five gold medals. He won the men's 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle, and the 4x100m freestyle relay. After transferring from UNLV, this was Allen's first crack at the Canada West Championships. On Sunday he set a new Canada West record in the 200m butterfly with a time of 1:58.11.

Kelly Aspinall (Nanoose Bay, BC) was also a winner on the day, taking home gold in the 100m freestyle with a time of 49.4. The men's team just missed out on another gold in the final event of the day, finishing second to Calgary in the 4x100m medley relay in 3:37.41.

Other award winners on the day included Thunderbird Athletic Council President Laura Thompson (Port Perry, ON) who won the Student Athlete/Community Service Award and head coach Steve Price was named the Canada West Female Coach of the Year.

11 members of the team were named Canada West All-Stars. From the women's team, Brittney Harley (Saskatoon, SK), Savannah King, Heather MacLean, Grainne Pierse, Erin Stamp, and Tera Van Beilen. On the men's side, Coleman Allen, Kelly Aspinall, Patrick Cowan (Saskatoon, SK), Sergey Holson (West Vancouver, BC), and Luke Peddie (Edmonton, AB) earned conference honours.

For the women's team this was the 24th Canada West Championship in school history, tieing them for the most in school history with the women's field hockey program.

Both the men and women will have just less then a month to prepare for the CIS National Championships in Calgary, AB, beginning February 21.

Final Standings

Women

1. UBC 878 - Canada West Champions

2. Calgary 742.5

3. Alberta 473.5

Men

1. Calgary 826 - Canada West Champions

2. UBC 770.5

3. Alberta 461.5

Male Swimmer of the Meet - Coleman Allen, UBC

Female Swimmer of the Meet - Savannah King, UBC

Female Coach of the Year - Steve Price, UBC