UBC men and women are crowned Canada West Championships

Lethbridge, AB - The UBC Thunderbirds successfully defended their Canada West swimming championship Sunday in Lethbridge, Alberta. The women won their sixth straight Canada West crown and 26th all-time, while the men won their second straight and 15th Canada West title all-time.

The Thunderbirds were dominant Sunday winning 12 of the 14 events, setting seven new Canada West records, sweeping the podium in three events, and winning all but one championship award. The men set a new Canada West record, becoming the first team to eclipse the 1000 point plateau. The Thunderbirds finished with 1007 points, 360 points better than second place Alberta. The UBC women also surpassed 1000 points, capping out at 1049 points, 409 more than second place Calgary.

Day 3 Results

Final Standings

"Today was a great day for our group, especially the men becoming the first team to score over 1000 points," said UBC head coach Steve Price. "Our women continue to set the standard, while the guys stepped up this year. There is more depth, which resulted in more wins this year which bodes well moving forward. Needless to say I'm pretty pleased."

Savannah King, swimming in her final Canada West Championships, was named the Female Canada West Swimmer of the Meet for a fourth straight year. On Sunday she won gold in the 400m freestyle. In fact she dominated the distance freestyle events during her career winning the 400m and 800m freestyle events the last five years running. She finished her Canada West Championship career with 20 golds, two silver, and two bronze medals.

"Savannah has a passion and love for varsity swimming like no other," said Price. "She threw it down in the 400m today to win the award as the top swimmer for the meet showing her experience and resilience."

For a third straight year Coleman Allen was named the Male Canada West Swimmer of the Meet. He saved his best for last on Sunday, winning three gold medals and setting two new Canada West records. It set new records in the 200m butterfly in a time of 1:55.61 and the 100m backstroke, touching the wall in 52.94. He also won gold along with Mitchell Benkic, Sergey Holson, and Yuri Kisil in the 4x100m medley relay. In all he finished the three-day event with six gold medals and one silver medal.

"Colemen is maturing and rounding into a pretty good racer all the way around," said Price. "He is a fiery guy who has had to learn pose and composure which has resulted in more consistent results."

Jacomie Strydom was named the Canada West Female Rookie of the Meet. The first-year swimmer swept the butterfly events, setting a new Canada West record in the 200m butterfly Sunday in a time of 2:11.23. Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson finished second, while Erin Assman took home the bronze in the event. Strydom also won gold in the 4x100m medley relay with Erin Stamp, Tera Van Beilen, and Fionnuala Pierse. The quartet not only set a new Canada West record with a time of 4:01.54, but also a Canadian national club record.

"Jacomie might be considered a late bloomer, but she is a great kid who impressed many people this weekend with her sweep of the butterfly events," said Price. "She is a great kid who only will get better."

Not to be outdone, Yuri Kisil was named the Canada West Male Rookie of the Meet. On Sunday he led a podium sweep in the 100m freestyle, touching the wall in a Canada West record time of 48.73. Stefan Milosevic finished second and Luke Peddie was third. Kisil finished the championship with four gold medals.

"We all knew the ability Yuri had coming into the program," said Price. "He has an enormous amount of talent and showed it today breaking Tommy Gossland's record in the 100m freestyle."

Other winners on the final day were Fionnuala Pierse in the 100m freestyle, Erin Stamp in the 200m individual medley, Sarah McLean in the 100m backstroke, Tera Van Beilen in the 200m breaststroke, and Keegan Zanatta in the 400m freestyle.

Zanatta broke the longest standing record in the Canada West by over three seconds with a time of 3:46.82. The previous mark had stood since 2001 and was held by UBC's Mark Johnston.

Fifth-year biology student Colleen Nesbitt was named the Canada West Female Student-Athlete Community Service Award Winner. Calgary's Bogdan Knezevic was the winner on the men's side.

For a fourth straight year UBC's Steve Price was named the Canada West Female Coach of the Year and for a second straight year was named the Canada West Male Coach of the Year.

"It is an honour to be recognized," said Price. "We are very fortunate to have a great group of coaches that work well together. Brian Johns in his first year as a full-time assistant coach has been great - add to that the experience of Tom Johnson and Jozsef Nagy, and I'm very lucky to be surrounded by such a staff."

The Thunderbirds will head into the 2015 CIS Championships as the favourites. The women will be in search of a four-peat and the 20th national title in the program's history, while the men will be fighting for its first CIS crown since 2012. This year's CIS Championships will be held in Victoria February 19-21, 2015.

Final Standings

Women

1. UBC 1049

2. Calgary 640

3. Alberta 517

Men

1. UBC 1007

2. Alberta 647

3. Calgary 643

Women's 200m butterfly

1. Jacomie Strydom 2:11.23 Canada West Record

2. Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson 2:14.59