MARKHAM, Ont. - The 2026 U SPORTS Swimming Championships concluded Saturday night in Markham with a thrilling final session that saw records fall, standout individual performances, and dominant team displays. When the final touches were made, the University of British Columbia stood atop Canadian university swimming once again, sweeping both the men's and women's national titles for a second-consecutive season.

UBC captured the women's championship with 1,445 points, finishing ahead of the University of Toronto (1,029) and McGill University (978.5).



The Thunderbirds also dominated the men's competition, winning the national banner with 1,644 points, comfortably ahead of Toronto (935.5) and Calgary (883.5).



The sweep capped three days of high-level racing that saw numerous national and university records broken, along with breakthrough performances from swimmers across the country.



Along with sweeping top spot in the overall team standings, the Thunderbirds were also front and center when it came to the individual award recognition. UBC's longtime leader Derrick Schoof, earned the U SPORTS Swimming Coach of the Year award, the sixth time he's been recognized with the honour and something he shares with his outstanding staff including assistant coach Sarah Rudolf.

After winning seven gold medals over the three day meet while breaking several U SPORTS championship records, Kayla Sanchez was recognized as the Athlete of the Meet. First-year teammates Ruby Kehler and Aiden Kirk, also made their presence felt in earning respective female and male Rookie of the Year honours for the 'Birds.

Schoof feels the team sweep and individual successes are reflective of the collective effort of the entire roster.



"I'm incredibly proud, what can I say," said Schoof following a lengthy celebration. "I knew they could swim fast but they actually surprised the heck out of me, they exceeded my expectations. I couldn't be prouder of them and the entire roster, top to bottom men and women, everyone came through and everyone played a role in winning these championships. It's never one or two athletes it's all 18 of them on each side so I'm very proud."

One of the most electrifying swims of the final session came in the men's 100-metre freestyle, where Olympic veteran Yuri Kisil delivered a championship-defining performance. The UBC sprinter touched the wall in 46.77 seconds, setting a new U SPORTS Championship record while also establishing a new program mark for the Thunderbirds.



York University's Eric Ginzburg finished second in 47.35 to set a new York record, while UBC's Joel Blanco captured bronze in 48.33.
For Kisil, the victory meant more than just another medal. Competing with a new group of teammates after returning to university competition, the veteran sprinter reflected on the experience of racing again at the U SPORTS level.

"It's awesome," Kisil said. "It's been a long time since I've been here, and just being back here with the team and a new group of people and friends, it's just everything I could ask for."

He credited his teammates and the depth of competition for pushing him to perform at his best throughout the weekend.

"The team having my back helped a lot," he added. "This is the biggest depth I've ever seen at U SPORTS, so I knew I had to be on my A-game."



The evening also featured impressive performances in the distance events.

In the women's 800-metre freestyle, McGill's Iris Tinmouth captured the national title in 8:41.36, holding off UBC's Emma Spence (8:43.88) and Ruby Kehler (8:46.46) in a tightly contested race.

Meanwhile, the men's 1500-metre freestyle produced a dominant showing for UBC as Olivier Risk claimed gold in 14:53.64, followed closely by teammate Aiden Kirk in 14:55.39. Montreal's Edouard Duffy rounded out the podium in 15:09.55.

Backstroke finals earlier in the session also delivered memorable races.



UBC's Emma O'Croinin led a one-two finish in the women's 200-metre backstroke, winning in 2:06.09 just ahead of teammate Bridget Burton (2:06.14). Ottawa's Abigail McKinley placed third in 2:09.59 while setting a new University of Ottawa record.

On the men's side, McGill's Loi¨c Courville-Fortin captured the 200-metre backstroke title in 1:53.41, establishing a new McGill record. UBC swimmers Raben Dommann and Jaques Harrison finished second and third, respectively.



The session began with the women's 200-metre butterfly, where the University of Toronto dominated the podium. Nina Mollin captured gold in 2:11.96, followed by teammates Angel Yao (2:14.34) and Kaitlyn Stanojlovic (2:15.21) in a Varsity Blues sweep.

Throughout the championships, record-breaking performances became a common theme. Multiple championships and university marks fell across events, including Kisil's record in the 100 freestyle and several program records across the country.

Another notable highlight of the meet came earlier in the competition when Alexanne Lepage set a new Canadian Senior and U SPORTS record in the 50m backstroke during the preliminary heats, adding to the historic pace of the championships.

Schoof emphasized that the program's success was built not around chasing records, but around developing athletes within a strong team culture.

"Unreal, you know it's really not even something we talk about, we're not going in with the mindset of breaking records," added Schoof. "We're just always going in day in day out with the mindset of making these athletes better, not only better swimmers but better people. You know what happens along the way is excellence and what happened is we came to this meet and we just started to actualize all the hard work that we had done. Whether it be around swimming or managing these people as student-athletes and doing the very best we could with each individual inside of an overall program and framework. What we found was that everyone fired no matter if they were sprinters or middle or distance or men or women or what group they were a part of, they all came together and fired at the same time and that's when we started to realize we can really do some great stuff including setting some records."



The championship was also a special moment for many swimmers on the women's side of the Thunderbirds program. Eloise Allen reflected on the emotional significance of winning a national title with her teammates.

"It feels really good to finally see my work starting to pay off," Allen said. "I'm really grateful for my coaches and my team and everything they do for me."

Allen also pointed to the strength of the team's relay performances, which helped UBC secure valuable points throughout the meet.

"It feels really special," she said. "We're all really close, and I'm just really proud of all of them and how hard we work."

As the championships concluded, the meet served as a showcase for the depth of Canadian university swimming. From record-breaking performances to breakthrough podium finishes, athletes from across the country delivered memorable races over three days of competition. This included the UBC T-Birds closing the meet out in emphatic fashion with a pair of U SPORTS Championship records in both the men's and women's 4 x 100m relay. First it was the fourseome of Bridget Burton, Sela Wist, Eloise Allen and Kayla Sanchez combining for a gold medal in a time of 3:54.03 ahead of their 'Birds counterparts featuring Raben Dommann, Kai Lilienthal, Justice Migneault and Yuri Kisil setting a new gold standard, clocking in at 3:26.64



When the final standings were confirmed, however, one program stood above the rest.

"Every swimmer on the team has a different story," concluded Schoof when asked about what makes the UBC swim program so unique and special. "But the common thread is they're resilient, they persevere, they fight they come back they go through ups and downs. Swimming is never a straight line, improving in swimming is never linear it's always got twists and turns and ups and downs and they've all managed to find a way to keep improving and support each other. When we're on a team it's like our first years and our fourths and our fifths, you know they all gel really quite easily because they spend so much time with each other at the pool and at social events that we put on, it's just a culture that we have that revolves around five h's, they're happy, they're healthy, they're hungry, they're humble and they're hard working. They come together with that philosophy and that team culture of positive vibes supporting each other and it really showed this weekend."



With dominant performances across sprint, distance, and relay events, the University of British Columbia once again established itself as the powerhouse of U SPORTS swimming, leaving Markham with both national banners and a championship weekend to remember.