Thunderbirds put to the test at the 2013 University Challenge Cup

11/21/2013 4:12:00 PM

Toronto, ON - The UBC Thunderbirds men's and women's swimming began a busy weekend of action on Thursday taking part in the 2013 University Challenge Cup, hosted by the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. The UBC women finished third overall, while the UBC men finished in fourth place.

COMPLETE RESULTS

The Thunderbirds were the only team not wearing full racing suits. UBC head coach Steve Price believes his team needs to be challenged more in domestic events and thought this would be the best way to do so.

"We feel if we are going to move our program to an even higher level, then we need to make it tougher for our athletes. We had a different agenda then all the other programs today and know we need to manufacture ways to challenge our group. I thought our kids were very positive throughout the competition and I'm very proud of how they handled it."

On the women's side, the two-time defending CIS champion Thunderbirds, finished in third place with 177 points. Toronto won with 225 points, while Calgary placed second with 191 points.

As for the men, it was the last years CIS champions from Toronto taking home first place with 228 points. Calgary finished second with 203.5, Alberta was third with 196 points, and UBC came in fourth place with 189.5 points.

The men were without Evan Broderick, who stayed home due to illness.

Top performances on the day for UBC included a second place finish for Tera Van Beilen in the 100m breaststroke and a silver for Coleman Allen in the 100m butterfly.

The team will stay in Toronto for the 2013 Canada Cup, but they will compete with their club teams. The event will feature 470 swimmers from 69 clubs across six provinces competing Friday and Saturday.

2013 University Challenge Cup

Top UBC results

Women's 200m freestyle relay

1. University of Toronto 1:44.43

3. UBC 1:45.05

Rebecca Terejko, Fionnuala Pierse,

Heather MacLean, Melissa Jung

Men's 200m freestyle relay

1. University of Toronto 1:30.58

2. UBC 1:32.42

Coleman Allen, Sergey Holson,

Stefan Milosevic, Luke Peddie