UBC Women Running Away With Title; Toronto Men Battle Back at CIS Canadian Championships

TORONTO , Ontario, February 21. THE University of Toronto Varsity Blues men had an impressive outing on Day 2 of the 2014 Speedo CIS Swimming Championships Friday, and are one step closer to defending their national title at home as they take a 68-point lead heading into Saturday’s final day of competition.

The host Varsity Blues made up ground with nine medals on the night. Veteran Zack Chetrat of Oakville, Ont., won his fifth career title in the 200 butterfly and a bronze medal in the 400 freestyle, helping Toronto’s men to 488 team points, ahead of the Canada West champion UBC Thunderbirds (420). Calgary sits third with 253 points heading into Day 3.

“It’s amazing,” said Chetrat. “To have won this event every year is something really special. It wasn’t easy by any means. A lot of hard work went into this and to have done it in front of a hometown crowd is really special.”

Joining Chetrat atop the podium were teammates Edward Liu and Chris Manning. Liu earned his first CIS title in the men’s 50 butterfly in a time of 24.04, with teammate Brian Lee not far behind in second place (24.15). Manning, a transfer from Auburn University, won the men’s 50 freestyle in 21.92, out-touching UBC’s Luke Peddie by just two one-hundredths of a second.

“What an incredible day we had,” said Varsity Blues head coach Byron MacDonald. “We knew we had to come out of today with a lead, knowing that UBC’s Day 3 is a little bit better than ours. We swam lights out in one of the best come backs I’ve ever been affiliated with and now we’re in the driver’s seat and it’s ours to win.”

In women’s action, UBC (532.5) is well on their way to a third straight CIS banner, holding a dominant 262.5-point lead over the RSEQ champion Montreal Carabins (270) the Calgary Dinos are third (211), with Western (194.5) and Toronto (187) not far behind.

The story of Day 2 was Montreal Carabins standout Sandrine Mainville. The Boucherville, Que., native kicked off the day with two CIS championship record-breaking performances in preliminaries. She bettered UQTR’s Jennifer Carroll’s 2009 50 butterfly mark (26.87) with a time of 26.19 seconds and also broke UQTR’s Caroline Lapierre-Lemire’s 50 freestyle championship record (24.87) in 24.85 seconds Friday morning. Mainville swam to gold in both events Friday night.

“I was just trying to qualify to the finals so it was definitely a nice surprise,” commented Mainville. “You don’t see this atmosphere anywhere else. I am just happy to help my team in the standings.”

UBC’s men’s 800 freestyle relay team of Stefan Milosevic, Jonathan Brown, Justin Chan and Coleman Allen capped off Day 2 with a CIS championship record-breaking performance, bettering their 2003 record (7:10.95) in a time of 7:09.50.

Calgary’s Russell Wood earned his second backstroke title of the championships, taking the 100-metre event in 52.66 seconds, while Frederic Le Blanc of UQTR and Keegan Zannata of the Victoria Vikes won the 200 breaststroke and 400 freestyle events, respectively.

Carabins rookie Barbara Jardin dethroned three-time 400 freestyle champion and fellow Olympian Savannah King of UBC in a time of 4:06.57. It’s Jardin’s second gold medal of the meet, after claiming the top spot in the 200 freestyle on Day 1.

“I had a really good start,” said Jardin. “That’s one of my strengths. I wanted to do my best for the team. I felt that it was not just me swimming, it was our entire team.”

UBC teammates Tera Van Beilen and Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson also claimed gold on Day 2. Van Beilen earned her second straight 200 breaststroke title (2:21.82), while Seltenreich-Hodgson notched her second title in as many days in the 200 butterfly, with both races seeing an all-Canada West podium finish.

“We’re looking not just for a team win but we’re looking for our girls to really step up individually and push themselves,” said UBC head coach Steve Price. “Tera is coming off a great training camp and we are only just discovering what Erika can do and that 200 fly was fantastic.”

Seltenreich-Hodgson joined Savannah King, Brittney Harley and Heather MacLean to take the top spot in the women’s 800 freestyle relay in a time of 7:57.84, almost a full 10 seconds ahead of Calgary (8:07.37).

The 2014 Speedo CIS Swimming Championships wrap up Saturday at U of T’s Varsity Pool. Preliminaries start at 10 a.m., with finals slated for 6 p.m. EST.

NOTE: All finals are webcast live on www.CIS-SIC.tv. Live results from all sessions are available on the championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/swim/index.

DAY 2 TEAM STANDINGS

Women

1. UBC, 532.5 points
2. Montreal, 270
3. Calgary, 211
4. Western, 194.5
5. Toronto, 187
6. McGill, 142
7. Laval, 134
8. Alberta, 118
9. Ottawa, 102
10. Dalhousie, 75
10. Guelph, 75
12. McMaster, 73
13. Victoria, 59
14. UQTR, 46
15. Sherbrooke, 14
16. Wilfrid Laurier, 22
17. Manitoba, 14
18. UQAM, 10
19. Brock, 9
20. UNB, 6
21. Regina, 5
22. Waterloo, 4
22. Lethbridge, 4

Men (Nelson C. Hart trophy)

1. Toronto, 488 points
2. UBC, 420
3. Calgary, 253
4. Montreal, 150
5. Western, 137
6. McMaster,125
7. Victoria, 105
8. Laval, 103.5
9. Alberta, 102
10. Dalhousie, 94
11. McGill, 68.5
12. Lethbridge, 68
13. Ottawa, 66
14. Manitoba, 49
15. Guelph, 32
16. Acadia, 49
17. Waterloo, 11
18. UQTR, 6
19. Laurier, 4

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com.

Results For: Canadian Interuniversity Sport Championships: Day Two

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