LETHBRIDGE, Alta. Through three days of exciting racing the UBC Thunderbirds Women's team captured the Canada West Women's Swimming Championships, raising their 12th title over the last 13 years while the T-Birds men's team narrowly missed out on a ninth consecutive banner and claimed the silver medal after being edged by the Calgary Dinos.

"I'm so proud of both our women's and men's teams, said UBC head coach Derrick Schoof, who was also named Women's Coach of the Year. "The women showed just how strong they are from sweeping the 800 free in the first event and winning the 4x100 medley relay at the end to cap off an excellent competition. The men were equally as impressive, however, I have to give credit to U of C men who have an incredibly deep roster and competed very well."
 
Living up to it's expectations was going to be a challenge for day three of the 2022 Canada West Swim Championships, and did it ever deliver.

Fans arrived at the Max Bell Aquatic Center on Sunday morning with a sense of anticipation for what the day was going to bring. A battle at the top of both genders in the team points category between the UBC Thunderbirds and the University of Calgary Dinos was top of mind, but also were the individual performances expected.

The afternoon started off on the right foot with women's 200 meter final, which saw the pacific schools of UBC and University of Victoria take the podium. Josie Field of the Thunderbirds struck gold with a time of 2:11.71, while rookie Yasmin Perry chased her down towards the end. Perry just didn't have quite enough clocking a time of 2:12.93. Lora Willar of the Thunderbirds took home 3^rd spot with a time of 2:18.57 and sent the meet off and running.

On the men's side of the 200 meter final, Padric Mckervill of the Victoria Vikes paced the top 3 swimmers who were all within 2 seconds of each other, Mckervill finished with a time of 1:59.36. A combination of Golden Bears and Dinos rounded out the podium with Diego Paz beating his neighbour to the south, Thomas Mcdonald with a time of 2:00.81.



The women's 100 meter freestyle was again dominated by Dino Rebecca Smith who dove in and came up with a lead, and didn't look back. Smith's time of 53.88 was almost 2 seconds better than Emma O'Croinin from the Thunderbirds who finished in silver position. Graduating athlete Avery Movold joined the duo on the podium with a time of 56.08 to take the bronze.

Stephen Calkins from the Dinos impressed on the men's side of the 100 meter freestyle where he improved by 2.56 seconds from his preliminary time; Calkins would cruise to a gold medal while the Thunderbird duo of Blake Tierney & Canek Bracho took home the silver and bronze medal respectively. The trio all finished under 50 seconds, with Calkins taking a time of 47.71, Tierney at 48.70 & Bracho at 49.41.

As the afternoon continued on, it seemed as though the atmosphere in the Max Bell Aquatic Center began to tighten up. It may have been influenced by the Women's 100 meter backstroke, which became one of the tightest contested races of the day. Hannah Johnsen of the Calgary Dinos, Lauren Crisp of the Victoria Vikes, and Megan Mozill of the Manitoba Bisons all topped the podium within a second of each of other. Johnsen with a time of 1:00.21, with Crisp & Mozill hitting the wall at 1:01.01 & 1:01.06 respectively.

The 100 meter men's backstroke saw the first podium of the day for the host Lethbridge Pronghorns, with Chris Alexander continuing his impressive meet and earning a silver medal behind Blake Tierney of the UBC Thunderbirds and ahead of Hugh McNeill of those same uniforms. Alexander ended up dropping 1.45 seconds off of his prelim time.



The walk out moment in the A-Final of the 200 meter men's breaststroke was a sight to see, as the host announcer played a competitive classic in ACDC Thunderstruck. Those in attendance could feel the extra emotion in the building as 2021 Rookie and Swimmer of the Meet, Apollo Hess defended his gold medal.

Similarly to Rebecca Smith, Hess dove in and came up with an early lead; he wouldn't look back, cruising to a time of 2:10.25. Frederik Kamminga of the Golden Bears dropped 4.5 seconds off his prelim time to earn the silver medal, edging out Ethan Hemeon of the UBC Thunderbirds.

Finishing the night with the 400 meter medley relay seemed appropriate as the crowd at the Max Bell Aquatic Center rose to it's feet. The UBC Thunderbirds relay team broke out into an early lead over the Calgary Dinos, all for Rebecca Smith to close the gap; however, the lady Thunderbirds didn't give in and hit the wall first with a time of 4:03.63. The Dinos ended up claiming silver, while the Victoria Vikes joined them on the podium.



For the men's half of the relay, the Lethbridge Pronghorns joined in on the fun being had between the Thunderbirds and Dinos throughout the weekend. Starting with the backstroke, all three of these schools were neck and neck through the turns. The 'Horns pulled away in the breastroke with Hess leading the way, but the Thunderbirds quickly closed the gap through the butterfly. Finishing with the freestyle, the Calgary Dinos began closing in, however the 'Birds and 'Horns has built up too big of a lead. They hit the wall with the Thunderbirds taking gold, the Pronghorns with silver, and the Dinos with Bronze.

Coach Schoof also added his thoughts on some individual achievements as first-year T-Birds student-athlete Eloise Allen was named the Women's Rookie of the Meet.

"It's always nice bringing home some individual honours," commented Schoof. "Eloise really stepped up in both her individual swims and the relays. Very proud of her. She swam her heart out all weekend. She showed a huge amount of resiliency in a very tough racing environment."
 
Finally, Schoof reluctantly offered thoughts on being recognized with the Women's Coach of the Year award. 

"It's always nice getting recognized by your peers. So I'm very grateful to receive this honour. I'm just very lucky to work with such an incredibly committed and hard working group of athletes. They make my job just a wonderful experience."

After the completion of the relays, the major award winners for the 2022 Canada West Championship were announced in front of the nearly packed house. Winners were as follows:

Men's Community Service Award – Mark Mckenzie (Calgary Dinos)
Women's Community Service Award – Olivia Roschat (Victoria Vikes)
Women's Coach of the Year – Derrick Schoof (UBC Thunderbirds)
Men's Coach of the Year – Peter Schori (Lethbridge Pronghorns)
Women's Rookie of the Meet – Eloise Allen (UBC Thunderbirds)
Men's Rookie of the Meet – Charlie Skalanda (Calgary Dinos)
Women's Swimmer of the Meet – Rebecca Smith (Calgary Dinos)
Men's Swimmer of the Meet – Apollo Hess (Lethbridge Pronghorns)
Women's Team Champion – UBC Thunderbirds
Men's Team Champion – Calgary Dinos