TORONTO - The number one ranked UBC Thunderbirds made their presence felt on day one of the 2025 U SPORTS Swimming National Championships at the university of Toronto's Varsity Pool, with both the 'Birds men's and women's teams holding the overall lead after the completion of six events Thursday evening.
The UBC men sit atop the overall team standings having tallied 411.5 points, including seven total medals, ahead of the second place Toronto Varsity Blues with 348.5, and the Calgary Dinos with 290 in third spot.
Meanwhile, the Thunderbird women hold a 247-point advantage as they tallied 565 points during the first day of competition, capturing 10 medals, including three golds. Currently in second-place Calgary has amassed 318 points, while the McGill Martlets rank third with 255 points.
Leading the charge for the UBC men was two-time Canadian Olympian
Finlay Knox. The defending U SPORTS 50m backstroke champion once again captured national gold, touching the wall in a new U SPORTS record time of 23.39. Knox additionally set a new U SPORTS record time in the event during prelims, clocking in at 23.62, before bettering the mark later in the night. Adding more hardware to his career tally, Knox also picked up gold alongside teammates
Blake Tierney,
Jake Gaunt, and
Joel Blanco, setting another U SPORTS record time in the 4x100m freestyle relay in 3:11.80.
"It's awesome!" described Knox of the Day 1 experience. "The U of T pool is quite intimate, so even though there's not maybe a couple thousand people in the stands, it's still pretty loud and obviously everyone at the universities are super passionate, so they're really bringing the energy for both the morning and evening sessions. We just have to dial in for tomorrow, and for the rest of the team, just ride off the results from today and keep the momentum going."
For the UBC women, the overall team depth was on full display as the Thunderbirds featured two or more swimmers in each event A-final on Day 1, including an impressive five swimmers in the 200m freestyle A-final. UBC swept that event podium with 2024 Paris Olympians
Kayla Sanchez and
Emma O'Croinin placing first and second, followed by teammate
Anna Dumont-Belanger in third. The Thunderbirds also grabbed a one-two finish in the 50m backstroke as
Eloise Allen claimed the top step of the podium, while
Bridget Burton finished right behind for silver. All four women then teamed up for relay gold in the 4x100m freestyle.
"I think that we've all been training so hard and to finally be here at the U SPORTS Championships and to show everyone what we've got is super exciting," said Sanchez following the tremendous first day effort from the UBC women. "I think being the best version that we can be. Being aggressive in our swims. Getting the spots that we need to. And representing UBC the best we can is the mindset we carry."
The full list of event medalists from Day 1 of the national championships is included below. Swimmers will dive back into the Athletic Centre – Varsity Pool tomorrow morning for Day 2 prelims beginning at 6:30 a.m. PT. (9:30 a.m. ET), with finals scheduled for 2:30 p.m. PT. (5:30 p.m. ET) start.
All sessions are streamed live in English on
CBC GEM,
CBC Sports Youtube, and
cbcsports.ca and in French on
Radio-Canada.ca/Sports and
ICI Tou.TV, while live results are available
here.
TEAM STANDINGS *after Day 1
WOMEN
1. UBC, 565.0
2. Calgary, 318.0
3. McGill, 255.0
4. Toronto, 180.0
5. Alberta, 86.5
6. Western, 73.0
7. Lethbridge, 72.0
8. Laval, 71.0
9. McMaster, 70.0
10. Victoria, 63.0
11. Dalhousie, 61.0
12. Guelph, 69.0
13. Waterloo, 52.0
14. Ottawa, 49.5
15. Montreal, 47.0
16. Brock, 46.0
17. Manitoba, 39.0
18. Acadia, 37.0
MEN
1. UBC, 411.5
2. Toronto, 348.5
3. Calgary, 290.0
4. McGill, 246.0
5. Alberta, 136.0
6. Ottawa, 103.0
7. Victoria, 78.5
8. Western, 78.0
9. Waterloo, 61.0
10. Lethbridge, 53.0
11. York, 32.0
12. McMaster, 30.5
13. Laurier, 30.0
14. Laval, 29.0
14. Sherbrooke, 29.0
16. Regina, 26.0
17. Dalhousie, 24.0
18. Carleton, 20.0
18. Montreal, 20.0
20. Manitoba, 19.0
21. UNB, 14.0
22. Acadia, 13.0
22. Brock, 13.0
24. Memorial, 6.0
25. UQTR, 2.0
EVENT RESULTS
(W) 200M Freestyle
1. Kayla Noelle Sanchez, UBC: 1:54.74
2.
Emma O'Croinin, UBC: 1:56.44
3.
Anna Dumont-Belanger, UBC: 1:59.13
(M) 200M Freestyle
1. Paul McKenzie, Alberta: 1:47.02
2. Bill Dongfang, Toronto: 1:47.07
3. Ben Winterborn, Toronto: 1:47.55
(W) 100M Breaststroke
1. Alexanne Lepage, Calgary: 1:05.79
2.
Eloise Allen, UBC: 1:07.41
3. Romane Hereng, Montreal: 1:08.72
(M) 100M Breaststroke
1. Nicholas Duncan, Calgary: 59.38
2. Hugo Lemesle, Ottawa: 59.48
3. Nathan Thomas, Toronto: 59.60
3.
Justice Migneault, UBC: 59.60
(W) 100M Butterfly
1. Nina Mollin, Toronto: 59.71
2.
Una Borchgrevink, UBC: 1:00.03
3. Brooklyn Weins, UBC: 1:00.67
(M) 100M Butterfly
1. Eric Ginzburg, York: 51.89
2.
Wells Ginzer, UBC: 52.53
3. Thomas Mcdonald, Calgary: 52.76
(W) 50M Backstroke
1.
Eloise Allen, UBC: 27.45
2.
Bridget Burton, UBC: 27.50
3. Tatum Connor, Brock: 27.65
(M) 50M Backstroke
1.
Finlay Knox, UBC: 23.39 –
U SPORTS RECORD
2.
Blake Tierney, UBC: 23.74
3. Andrew Herman: Toronto: 23.77
(W) 400M Medley
1. Alexanne Lepage, Calgary: 4:42.17
2. Olivia Brendzan, Alberta: 4:43.53
3.
Emma Spence, UBC: 4:45.53
(M) 400M Medley
1.
Tanner Cole, UBC: 4:13.67
2. Jacob Gallant, Toronto: 4:16.08
3.
Hugh McNeill, UBC: 4:17.12
(W) 400M Freestyle Relay
1. UBC (
Emma O'Croinin,
Anna Dumont-Belanger,
Bridget Burton, Kayla Noelle Sanchez): 3:37.78
2. Calgary (Eliza Housman, Hannah Johnsen, Alexanne Lepage, Hannah Bennett): 3:44.54
3. Toronto (Kayla Houlder, Gemma Norman, Katie Marovino, Teagan Vander Leek): 3:45.95
(M) 400M Freestyle Relay
1. UBC (
Finlay Knox,
Blake Tierney,
Jake Gaunt,
Joel Blanco): 3:11.80 –
U SPORTS RECORD
2. Toronto (Andrew Herman, Ben Winterborn, Liam Weaver, Albert Bouley): 3:14.58
3. Calgary (Gibson Black, Stephen Calkins, Ethan Fast, Thomas Mcdonald): 3:15.40
