VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds won both the men's and women's national titles at the 2019 U SPORTS Odlum Brown Swimming Championships for the third consecutive year. With the home pool victory, the UBC women have now captured seven titles in the last eight years, while the Thunderbird men collected their fourth of the last five national championships.

UBC secured the women's championship with 1,255.5 points, edging out the Toronto Varsity Blues (1,230.5) in an electrifying final day at the UBC Aquatic Centre. The Montreal Carabins finished third with 701 points, followed by the Calgary Dinos (521) and the Victoria Vikes (312).
 
The men's standings also came down to the wire, as UBC (1,075 points) came from behind to top the Calgary Dinos (925.5) on Day 3. The Toronto Varsity Blues were third (682), McGill fourth (550) and Victoria fifth (472.5).
 

"It's an amazing feeling to win a championship, but to win it at home is extra special and these kids battled," said UBC head coach, and women's co-Coach of the Year, Steve Price. "This was by no means guaranteed, they had to battle from Day 1. For the guys to come back like they did, and the women held off a really hard charge from Toronto, what a fantastic swim meet for everybody, some great performances from all over the country."
 
After a meet that saw 21 U SPORTS records broken, Price shared the women's Coach of the Year award with Toronto's Byron MacDonald, and Calgary head coach Mike Blondal earned the men's Coach of the Year honours.
 


U SPORTS Male Swimmer of the Year Markus Thormeyer set his fifth U SPORTS record of the meet with a personal-best time of 48.71 in the men's 100 freestyle, also earning his sixth meet record in the 200 backstroke (1:58.64) for his third straight gold in the event. The third-year 'Bird joined Alexander Pratt, Josiah Binnema, and Araya Therrien to secure the 4x100 freestyle relay in yet another U SPORTS record time of 3:23.39.
 
"It feels great to do this at home," said Thormeyer. "It wasn't an easy battle, the women were ahead from Day 1 but their lead was shrinking and the men...we were behind on day one and were trying to overcome. No one knew what was going to happen. The fact both the men and women's teams pulled through for the third year in a row, it feels amazing."
 

In her last national university meet, 2016 Olympic medalist Kylie Masse completed the backstroke triple grand slam in record-breaking fashion, securing the 200 backstroke gold in a new U SPORTS best time of 2:08.70. It was the fourth 200 backstroke gold of her university career, to go with four in the 50, and another four in the 100. Eleven of those 12 wins came in U SPORTS record-setting fashion.
 
The former world record holder concluded her career at the University of Toronto as the U SPORTS Swimmer of the Year for the third consecutive season.
 
"I'm really happy with it, to come out with the win would've been nice but I know our team did everything we possibly could to get as many points as we could," said Masse. "I'm so proud of these girls and to have been part of this team for five years is something really special, so I'll always remember my times as a Varsity Blue."
 
Masse swam one last race with her Toronto 4x100 freestyle team, and set a final U SPORTS record time of 3:43.90 with Aleksa Gold, Ainsley McMurray and Rebecca Smith.
 
Smith, who was named Female Rookie of the Year, won the 100 freestyle in 55.45 for the Varsity Blues on Day 3. Male Rookie of the Year Alexander Pratt finished the meet with two individual medals and three U SPORTS records with the UBC relay teams.
 
Victoria's Taylor Snowden-Richardson and Lethbridge Pronghorn Owen Guyn took home the Student-Athlete Community Service Awards.
 
UBC's Emily Overholt crushed the U SPORTS 800 freestyle record by almost 10 seconds, touching the wall with a time of 8:46.89 for her fourth gold medal, and fourth meet record, of the weekend.
 

Manitoba's Kelsey Wog completed the breaststroke sweep by defending her gold medal at the 200-metre distance in a new U SPORTS record time of 2:25.50 – taking home top spot in the 50 breaststroke, 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley.
 
Ottawa's Davide Casarin set a new U SPORTS record in the men's 200 butterfly (2:00.41), while the Thunderbirds filled out the podium with Josiah Binnema in silver (2:00.95) and rookie Dmitriy Lim in bronze (2:01.16).
 
Second-year Thunderbird Jaren LeFranc impressed in his 200 breaststroke gold-medal swim (2:16.41), finishing nearly two full seconds ahead of Sherbrooke's Jonathan Naisby (2:18.39). Calgary's Benjamin Blackmon snagged bronze in 2:19.17. 
 
INDIVIDUAL HONOURS
 
Women
 
Swimmer of the Year: Kylie Masse, Toronto
Rookie of the Year: Rebecca Smith, Toronto
Co-Coaches of the Year: Byron MacDonald, Toronto / Steve Price, UBC
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Taylor Snowden-Richardson, Victoria 
 

Men
 
Swimmer of the Year: Markus Thormeyer, UBC
Rookie of the Year: Alex Pratt, UBC
Coach of the Year: Mike Blondal, Calgary
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Owen Guyn, Lethbridge
 

 
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
 
Women
 
1. UBC, 1,255.5 points
2. Toronto, 1,230.5
3. Montreal, 701
4. Calgary, 521
5. Victoria, 312
6. McGill, 299
7. Ottawa, 294
8. Alberta, 237
T9. Western, 217
T9. Laval, 217
11. McMaster, 206
12. Dalhousie, 200
13. Waterloo, 198.5
14. Manitoba, 192.5
15. Guelph, 141
16. Sherbrooke, 96
17. Regina, 90
18. New Brunswick, 73
19. Québec à Trois-Rivières, 72
20. Wilfrid Laurier, 58
21. Laurentian, 44
22. Acadia, 26
23. Queen's, 15
24. Lethbridge, 9
25. Memorial, 3
26. Brock, 1
 
Men (Nelson C. Hart trophy)
 
1. UBC, 1,075 points
2. Calgary, 925.5
3. Toronto, 682
4. McGill, 550
5. Victoria, 472.5
6. Regina, 470
7. Ottawa, 442.5
8. Laval, 397.5
9. Montreal, 388.5
10. Alberta, 249
11. Lethbridge, 234.5
12. Western, 160
13. Dalhousie, 134
14. Sherbrooke, 87
15. Manitoba, 65
16. Laurentian, 58
17. Brock, 41
18. Acadia, 40
19. Waterloo, 39
20. Queen's, 34
21. Thompson Rivers, 29
22. Mount Allison, 28
23. Guelph, 10
24. McMaster, 5 
 
DAY 3 INDIVIDUAL MEDALLISTS
 
Women 200m Fly
1. Danielle Hanus, Victoria, 2:13.54
2. Hannah Genich, Toronto, 2:13.77
3. Megan Dalke, UBC, 2:15.40
 
Men 200m Fly
1. Davide Casarin, Ottawa, 2:00.41 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Josiah Binnema, UBC, 2:00.95
3. Dmitriy Lim, UBC, 2:01.16
 
W 100m Free
1. Rebecca Smith, Toronto, 55.45
2. Charis Huddle, Western, 56.02
3. Hoi Lam Karen Tam, UBC, 56.22
 
M 100m Free
1. Markus Thormeyer, UBC, 48.71 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Davide Casarin, Ottawa, 50.73
3. Mitch Ferraro, Toronto, 50.94
 
W 200m Breast
1. Kelsey Wog, Manitoba, 2:25.50 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Renae Ledoux, Alberta, 2:32.50
3. Jasmine Raines, Laurier, 2:32.98
 
M 200m Breast
1. Jaren LeFranc, UBC, 2:16.41
2. Jonathan Naisby, Sherbrooke, 2:18.39
3. Benjamin Blackmon, Calgary, 2:19.17
 
W 200m Back
1. Kylie Masse, Toronto, 2:08.70 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Olivia Ellard, UBC, 2:13.75
3. Ingrid Wilm, UBC, 2:14.51
 
M 200m Back
1. Markus Thormeyer, UBC, 1:58.64 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Robert Hill, Calgary, 2:02.93
3. Anders Klein, Calgary, 2:03.76
 
W 800m Free
1. Emily Overholt, UBC, 8:46.89 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Marit Anderson, Calgary, 8:50.17
3. Megan Dalke, UBC, 8:51.14
 
M 1500 Free
1. Eric Hedlin, Victoria, 15:34.16 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Hau-Li Fan, UBC, 15:34.24
3. Peter Brothers, Calgary, 15:50.47
 
W 4 x 100m Free
1. Toronto, 3:43.90 (U SPORTS Record)
(Aleksa Gold, Ainsley McMurray, Kylie Masse, Rebecca Smith)
2. UBC, 3:45.75
(Hoi Lam Karen Tam, Quincy Brozo, Mackenzie Gunther, Emily Overholt)
3. Montreal, 3:47.20
(Katerine Savard, Charlotte Beauchemin, Frederique Cigna, Ariane Mainville)
 
M 4 x 100m Free
1. UBC, 3:23.39 (U SPORTS Record)
(Alex Pratt, Josiah Binnema, Araya Therrien, Markus Thormeyer)
2. Montreal, 3:26.56
(Vincent Laperle, Antoine Bujold, Vincent Taboga, Antoine Bernard-Lalonde)
3. Toronto, 3:26.75
(Bjoern-Ole Schrader, Matt Dans, Ethan Fazekas, Mitch Ferraro)