VANCOUVER – It was a record-setting start to the 2019 U SPORTS Odlum Brown Swimming Championships as seven meet records were broken on Day 1 at the new UBC Aquatic Centre.
 
The reigning national champion UBC Thunderbirds currently occupy first place in the women's standings with 500.5 points, the Toronto Varsity Blues sit in second (389.5) and the Montreal Carabins finished the day in third (252.5). The Calgary Dinos hold the fourth spot (188) and Victoria Vikes are in fifth place (131).
 
"It's been a great Day 1 for our team," said UBC head coach Steve Price. "It's a tough meet, you know the University of Calgary, Montreal and Toronto have come in here and they're going to throw down. We're going to be in a battle the whole way through. Our women really stepped up well and our men we're in a battle with Calgary but they kind of mitigated a bit of the damage with the amount of swims Calgary had."
 

On the men's side, the Dinos (372) leads the defending champion Thunderbirds (330.5) in a battle for first place, Toronto is in third (268), while McGill (240) and Victoria (182) round out the top five.
 
"I thought we transferred really well from short course to long course and that was a good thing for us," said Calgary head coach Mike Blondal. "We focused a lot on long-course swimming, the men's side is deep and they're working pretty hard. It's a new format for us, it's a different order of events so we're not sure how it all plays out but it's nice to be in the lead."
 
Toronto swimmer Kylie Masse set the first meet record of the evening by breaking her own U SPORTS record in the Women's 100 backstroke (59.33) to earn her fourth consecutive gold medal in the event. 
 
"It's always great to break a record, and especially one of my own, it shows improvement so that's good," said Masse. "I would've liked to have been a bit faster considering everything, I was a bit sick last week. Not to use that as an excuse or anything, but I'm using it as a benchmark moving forward so I'm happy with it."
 
The 2016 Olympic bronze medallist and former world record holder is competing in her final U SPORTS championship for the Toronto Varsity Blues.
 
"I'm definitely looking forward to it as my last U SPORTS championships, but it'll be sad leaving the team," said Masse. "I just have to be grateful for all the memories I've had with them so really trying to end it with a bang and definitely do the best we can this weekend."
 
Her Varsity Blues squad did just that in the women's 4x100 Medley relay, as Kelsey Crocker, Hannah Genich, and Rebecca Smith joined Masse to set a new U SPORTS and Canadian club record with a time of 4:05.55.
 

Olympic bronze medalist Emily Overholt, 2018 Commonwealth games bronze medalist Markus Thormeyer and fifth-year senior Josiah Binnema each set a pair of U SPORTS records for the host UBC Thunderbirds as they strive to defend their national titles.
 
Overholt set a U SPORTS record in the 400 freestyle with a commanding victory in 4:06.27 as her T-Bird team swept the podium. Megan Dalke earned silver (4:15.57) and Maia Brundage took bronze (4:16.48).
 
"It was pretty surprising to be honest, I wasn't really expecting that," said Overholt. "I was definitely looking at the record before the race so I'm really happy with that and happy to get points for the team. It's definitely fun to just race with the other girls...getting the sweep was just the cherry on top."
 
Meanwhile, Thormeyer won his third straight gold medal in the men's 100 backstroke with a U SPORTS record time of 53.78. Robert Hill of the Calgary Dinos claimed silver (56.27) and teammate Anders Klein captured bronze (56.38).
 
"It was a pretty good way to start the whole meet," said Thormeyer. "Looking up and seeing this whole row of T-Bird fans, it just really sets the tone for the rest of the meet. It's so packed, everywhere I look, there are parents and T-Bird fans, my teammates and even friends from other teams. It's such a high energy meet and such a nice facility, it's pretty crazy."
 
Thormeyer's second U SPORTS record came in the final event of the night when his T-Bird 4x100 medley relay team (along with Jaren LeFranc, Josiah Binnema and Alex Pratt) won gold in 3:41.62.
 

Binnema also set a new U SPORTS record with a time of 52.89 for his second consecutive gold in the 100 butterfly. Fellow fifth-year Thunderbird Alex Loginov earned gold in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.21.
 
Montana Champagne also set a U SPORTS record in the men's 200 individual medley with a time of 2:02.09 to capture gold for the University of Ottawa.
 
Manitoba's Kelsey Wog defended her gold medal in the 50 breaststroke (31.80), while also topping the podium in the 200 IM (2:13.98).
 
Day 2 of the 2019 U SPORTS championships begins Friday morning with preliminary races at 10 a.m. (PT) and finals set for 6 p.m. (PT).
 
DAY 1 TEAM STANDINGS
 
Women
 
1. UBC, 500.5 points
2. Toronto, 389.5
3. Montreal, 252.5
4. Calgary, 188
5. Victoria, 131
6. Ottawa, 109
7. Alberta, 100
8. McGill, 99
9. Manitoba, 97.5
10. Laval, 86
11. Waterloo, 79
12. McMaster, 78
13. Dalhousie, 77
14. Western, 67
15. Regina, 44
16. Guelph, 42
17. Québec à Trois-Rivières, 41
18. Sherbrooke, 40
19. New Brunswick, 27
20. Laurentian, 18
21. Acadia, 7
21. Wilfrid Laurier, 7
23. Queens, 6
 
Men (Nelson C. Hart trophy)
 
1. Calgary, 372 points
2. UBC, 330.5
3. Toronto, 268
4. McGill, 240
5. Victoria, 182
6. Regina, 171
7. Montreal, 155
8. Ottawa, 137.5
9. Laval, 109
10. Lethbridge, 106.5
11. Alberta, 76
12. Western, 66
13. Dalhousie, 52
14. Laurentian, 31
15. Acadia, 30
15. Waterloo, 30
17. Manitoba, 29
18. Sherbrooke, 27
19. Queen's, 15
20. Brock, 12
21. Guelph, 3
22. Mount Allison, 2.5
23. McMaster, 1
 
DAY 1 INDIVIDUAL MEDALLISTS
 
Women 50m Free
1. Charis Huddle, Western, 25.74
2. Hoi Lam Karen Tam, UBC, 26.05
3. Ainsley McMurray, Toronto, 26.13
 
Men 50m Free
1. Alex Loginov, UBC, 23.21
2. Matthew Schouten, Laurentian, 23.36
3. Stephen Calkins, Calgary, 23.42
 

W 100m Back
1. Kylie Masse, Toronto, 59.33 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Danielle Hanus, Victoria, 1:01.56
3. Ingrid Wilm, UBC, 1:01.82
 
M 100m Back
1. Markus Thormeyer, UBC, 53.78 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Robert Hill, Calgary, 56.27
3. Anders Klein, Calgary, 56.38
 
W 50 Breast
1. Kelsey Wog, Manitoba, 31.80
2. Hillary Metcalfe, UBC, 32.26
3. Marie-Laurence Godin, Sherbrooke, 32.47
 
M 50 Breast
1. Cale Kooyman, Alberta, 28.81
2. Matthew Loewen, Western, 28.93
3. Jonathan Naisby, Sherbrooke, 29.00
 
W 400 Free
1. Emily Overholt, UBC, 4:06.27 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Megan Dalke, UBC, 4:15.57
3. Maia Brundage, UBC, 4:16.48
 
M 400 Free
1. Davide Casarin, Ottawa, 3:53.46
2. Alex Pratt, UBC, 3:56.92
3. Peter Brothers, Calgary, 3:57.95
 
W 100 Fly
1. Rebecca Smith, Toronto, 59.03
2. Hannah Genich, Toronto, 59.33
3. Danielle Hanus, Victoria, 1:00.61
 
M 100 Fly
1. Josiah Binnema, UBC, 52.89 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Matt Dans, Toronto, 54.21
3. Clement Secchi, McGill, 54.64
 

RECORD ALERT! @UBC's Josiah Binnema breaks the @USPORTSca record to win the 100m butterfly in 52.89!

Men's 100 Butterfly/100m papillon masculin
?? Josiah Binnema (@ubctbirds)
?? Matt Dans (@Varsity_Blues)
?? Clement Secchi (@McGillAthletics)#ChampSZN pic.twitter.com/8yqz95GUga

— U SPORTS Swimming (@USportsSwimming) February 22, 2019

W 200 IM
1. Kelsey Wog, Manitoba, 2:13.98
2. Hillary Metcalfe, UBC, 2:16.87
3. Georgia Kidd, Toronto, 2:17.79
 
M 200 IM
1. Montana Champagne, Ottawa, 2:02.09 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Brian Palaschuk, Regina, 2:02.26
3. Josh Zakala, Victoria, 2:04.35
 
W 4 x 100m Medley
1. Toronto, 4:05.55 (U SPORTS Record & Canadian Club Record)
(Kylie Masse, Kelsey Crocker, Hannah Genich, Rebecca Smith)
2. UBC, 4:08.24
(Ingrid Wilm, Hillary Metcalfe, Kirsten Douglas, Emily Overholt)
3. Montreal, 4:18.43
(Ariane Mainville, Marie-Lou Lapointe, Katerine Savard, Anais Arlandis)
 
M 4 x 100m Medley
1. UBC, 3:41.62 (U SPORTS Record)
(Markus Thormeyer, Jaren LeFranc, Josiah Binnema, Alex Pratt)
2. Toronto, 3:47.19
(Matthew Mac, Graeme Aylward, Matt Dans, Mitch Ferraro)
3. Calgary, 3:47.59
(Anders Klein, Benjamin Blackmon, Emil Goin, Stephen Calkins)