TORONTO - The UBC Thunderbirds remained dominant on day two of the 2025 U SPORTS Swimming National Championships, a day where the pool was fast and six total U SPORTS national records were broken and the 'Birds women's and men's teams remained on top of the overall standings.
For the women, UBC delivered another dominant performance as they added 11 medals on day two, lifting their point total in the overall team standing to 1054. Following behind in second-place, the Calgary Dinos secured three medals of their own on the second day of competition, sitting at 597.5 points, while the McGill Martlets sit just behind in third with 591.5 after 13 total events at the national championships.
Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds men earned four gold medals on Day 2, jumping to 947 total points to take a 198.5-point advantage over their nearest competitor. Riding the high of the home pool crowd, the Toronto Varsity Blues rank second in the overall team standings with 748.5 points, while Calgary hold on to third with 589.
"Very happy with the first two days, I think we're firing on all cylinders on all events," said UBC head coach Derek Schoof. "We just have to make sure that we settle down really well tonight and comeback ready to do the same thing in the morning. This meet is won and lost on the last day of the meet. I think we're in a good spot but we really want to come out swimming hard tomorrow morning, get those lanes we need for tomorrow night."
Marking the first of the six records on Day 2, UBC Thunderbird and two-time Olympian
Kayla Sanchez claimed the women's 50m freestyle gold medal in a new national best time of 24.18. She wasn't done with just the opening event, adding another record time of 25.85 in the 50m butterfly, securing a second individual gold on Day 2 and third across the two-days completed. Sanchez then joined
Emma O'Croinin,
Anna Dumont-Belanger, and
Bridget Burton to win the 4x200 freestyle relay, rounding out a spectacular Day 2.
Also continuing to deliver a standout performance in Toronto, Calgary's Alexanne Lepage followed up a two-gold medal (100m breaststroke, 400m IM) Day 1 with another national gold in the 200m breaststroke and relay bronze. With five medals added to her career tally, the 2024-25 Canada West swimmer of the year now has 11 U SPORTS medals in just her second season as a Dino.
"It's been great - I love U SPORTS and I love racing for the team," said Lepage after accepting her Day 2 gold medal. "I'm so happy to be able to get gold and get those points for our team. We have really been working hard this season, so I'm really excited with how we've been doing so far this meet and I'm excited to see how tomorrow goes."
Shifting to the men, the UBC duo of Canadian Olympians
Blake Tierney and
Finlay Knox secured both gold medals and U SPORTS records on Day 2. Touching the wall in 51:00, Tierney claimed first in the 100m backstroke, setting a new fastest time. Meanwhile, Knox claimed his third U SPORTS record time of the championships, converting a 1:54.15 in the 200m individual medley into a new national mark and U SPORTS gold. The pair were then joined by
Jake Gaunt and
Olivier Risk in the 4x200m freestyle relay, where they set another record time of 7:04.23.
Also achieving a U SPORTS record during the furious action inside Varsity Pool, York's Eric Ginzburg touched the wall in 23.05 during the 50m butterfly, tying the previous national mark. Ginzburg captured a second U SPORTS gold medal on Day 2 winning the highly-competitive 50m freestyle in a time of 21.80. The York Lion now has three national gold medals after two days of competition, also securing gold in the 100m butterfly on Day 1.
Prior to the start of the day, the 2025 U SPORTS Student-Athlete Community Service Awards winners were honoured, from the Memorial Sea-Hawks Marcella Whelan and from the McGill Redbirds Erik Linseisen.
Whelan is a top-performing student-athlete with a 4.0 GPA and multiple U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian honors. She is actively involved in mentorship as a Big Sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada, serves as President of the Department of Ocean Sciences Undergraduate Society, and advocates for inclusivity as an undergraduate representative on the department's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. Marcella also volunteers at The Gathering Place, assists with Sea-Hawks Swim Clinics, supports cancer research fundraising efforts, and provides care for elderly residents at The Residence at Littledale.
Linseisen is the founder of Alta Construction Group, which aims to tackle the housing crisis in Quebec through sustainable and affordable housing solutions. He serves as a volunteer first responder with Ambulance Saint Jean and is the Vice President of External Relations for McGill's National Organization of Business and Engineering. Erik volunteers at a community food bank, mentors individuals with celiac disease, and supports Vermont communities by assisting with farm produce distribution. He also teaches swimming and coaches aspiring athletes in his community, helping individuals of all ages develop their skills.
The full list of event medalists from Day 2 of the national championships is included below. Swimmers will conclude the national championships inside the Athletic Centre – Varsity Pool tomorrow morning beginning with prelims at 9:30 a.m., before finals at 5:30 p.m.
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 2
WOMEN
1. UBC, 1054.0
2. Calgary, 597.5
3. McGill, 591.5
4. Toronto, 496.0
5. Alberta, 212.0
6. Western, 198.0
7. McMaster, 163.5
8. Lethbridge, 159.0
9. Victoria, 144.5
10. Laval, 142.0
11. Guelph, 132.0
12. Brock, 127.0
13. Montreal, 125.0
14. Ottawa, 115.5
15. Dalhousie, 111.0
16. Manitoba, 100.5
17. Waterloo, 88.0
18. Acadia, 55.0
19. Sherbrooke, 4.0
20. UNB, 2.0
MEN
1. UBC, 947.0
2. Toronto, 748.5
3. Calgary, 589.0
4. McGill, 524.5
5. Alberta, 248.0
6. Western, 233.0
7. Ottawa, 190.0
8. Victoria, 182.5
9. Waterloo, 140.0
10. York, 96.0
11. Lethbridge, 90.5
12. Laval, 80.5
13. Laurier, 68.0
14. McMaster, 63.0
15. Memorial, 58.5
16. Dalhousie, 53.0
17. Montreal, 48.0
18. Sherbrooke, 42.0
19. Regina, 38.0
20. Carleton, 36.0
21. Manitoba, 33.0
22. Acadia, 25.0
23. UNB, 16.0
24. Brock, 13.0
25. UQTR, 2.0
EVENT RESULTS
(W) 50 SC Meter Freestyle
1. Kayla Noelle Sanchez, UBC: 24.18 -
U SPORTS RECORD
2. Teagan Vander Leek, Toronto: 25.27
3. Zea M Wetzlaughk, Western: 25.61
(M) 50 SC Meter Freestyle
1. Eric Ginzburg, York: 21.80
2. Albert Bouley, Toronto: 21.84
3. Liam Weaver, Toronto: 21.89
(W) 200 SC Meter Breaststroke
1. Alexanne Lepage, Calgary: 2:25.73
2.
Emma Spence, UBC: 2:28.93
3. Romane Hereng, Montreal: 2:30.01
(M) 200 SC Meter Breaststroke
1. Hugo Lemesle, Ottawa: 2:08.06
2. Nathan Thomas, Toronto: 2:09.10
3.
Tanner Cole, UBC: 2:09.70
(W) 400 SC Meter Freestyle
1.
Emma O'Croinin, UBC: 4:09.88
2.
Anna Dumont-Belanger, UBC: 4:13.65
3. Raphaelle Tremblay, Laval: 4:14.13
(M) 400 SC Meter Freestyle
1.
Olivier Risk, UBC: 3:49,79
2. Mats Baradat, McGill: 3:50.08
3. Quinn Mattias, Toronto: 3:51.12
(W) 100 SC Meter Back
1.
Bridget Burton, UBC: 59.30
2. Hannah Johnsen, Calgary: 1:00.26
3. Tatum O'Connor, Brock: 1:00.31
(M) 100 SC Meter Back
1.
Blake Tierney, UBC: 51.00 -
U SPORTS RECORD
2. Andrew Herman, Toronto: 51.49
3. Benjamin Lowen, Toronto: 52.85
(W) 200 SC IM Freestyle
1. Nina Mollin, Toronto: 2:13.46
2.
Camryn Stannard, UBC: 2:14.46
3.
Emma Spence, UBC: 2:16.04
(M) 200 SC IM Freestyle
1.
Finlay Knox, UBC: 1:54.15 -
U SPORTS RECORD
2. Loi Courville-Fortin, McGill: 1:57.57
3. Kent Goni Avilla, Laurier: 1:58.07
(W) 50 SC Meter Butterfly
1. Kayla Noelle Sanchez, UBC: 25.85 -
U SPORTS RECORD
2.
Eloise Allen, UBC: 26.59
3.
Una Borchgrevink, UBC: 27.00
(M) 50 SC Meter Butterfly
1. Eric Ginzburg, York: 23.05 -
U SPORTS RECORD
2.
Kai Lilienthal, UBC: 23.14
3.
Finlay Knox, UBC: 23.35
(W) 800 SC Meter Freestyle Relay
1. UBC (
Anna Dumont-Belanger,
Emma O'Croinin,
Camryn Stannard,
Kayla Sanchez): 7:54.04
2. McGill (Naomie Lo, Elizabeth Ling, Iris Tinmouth, Maya McGhan): 8:07.88
3. Calgary (Alexanne Lepage, Hannah Johnsen, Emily De Jager, Hannah Bennett): 8:10.98
(M) 800 SC Meter Freestyle Relay
1. UBC (
Blake Tierney,
Jake Gaunt,
Olivier Risk,
Finlay Knox): 7:07.23 -
U SPORTS RECORD
2. Toronto (Ben Winterborn, Brendan Oswald, Bill Dongfang, Quinn Matteis): 7:16.24
3. Victoria (Ricky Millns, Elijah Agostinelli-Stull, Matthew MacDonald, Keir Ogilvie): 7:17.33
