SWIM: Canada West's top swimmers to race for the podium in Lethbridge

By Brian Swane, special to CW

Usually they’re on the hunt, but this time the student-athletes of the University of Calgary women’s swim team are the ones being chased.

From the east and from the west, some traveling by air, others by land, they’re all coming after the Calgary Dinos. And the only escape is in the waters of southern Alberta.

That’s where you’ll find the Canada West Swimming Championship happening, Friday (Nov. 25) through Sunday (Nov. 27), at the Max Bell Regional Aquatic Centre in Lethbridge. Catch all the action streaming live and on demand on Canada West TV.

One year after ending the UBC Thunderbird’s unprecedented run of 11 consecutive titles, Calgary’s women’s swim team looks to stay on top by staying ahead of a pack that includes the host Lethbridge Pronghorns.

“It’s always good to win a championship and it always galvanizes everybody … and to beat UBC and knock them off the leading post, it makes everyone excited, says Mike Blondal, Dinos swimming coach. We’re looking forward to a strong competition this year and hopefully we can repeat.”

UBC had won every Canada West women’s swimming title dating back to 2009 until last November in Edmonton, where 2021 Canada West Swimmer of the Year Rebecca Smith helped propel Calgary to the championship.

But while one streak came to an end last year for UBC, another remains intact: The T-Birds men’s team has captured every Canada West title since 2013, and another this weekend would be their ninth in a row, moving to within just two of equaling the record of eleven straight men’s swimming championships, established by Calgary from 1980 to 1990.

“We don’t talk much about the streak with our men’s team, we just go one day at a time and do the best we can,” says T-Birds swimming coach Derrick Schoof. “There’s a huge tradition at UBC, around success and excellence in the pool, so there’s always an expectation of us to go and win. We’re just looking at this year and we haven’t looked backwards; we’re staying in the moment and doing what we can to try to win this year.”

Over the last month, teams have competed at the Dino Cup in Calgary and the Odlum Brown Colleges Cup at the UBC Aquatic Centre. In both cases, the Dinos and T-Birds finished in the top two spots, with the host team winning the meet each time.

“We’ve raced UBC twice this year already, just trying to find out who’s doing what, so this is an opportunity to see what everyone’s really like, because both teams are going to try and win,” Blondal says. “And there’s other players in the field: Lethbridge is swimming very fast right now, and so is Victoria, so the cards will be played differently than normal this year.”

The Max Bell Regional Aquatic Centre is located within the University of Lethbridge’s 1st Choice Savings Centre for Sport & Wellness and features an Olympic sized Pool with an adjacent viewing gallery that seats 350, providing for a spectacular atmosphere with energetic spectators.

“It brings up good memories from 2019 when Lethbridge last hosted the Canada West Championship," says Schoof. “It came right down to the very last relay of the entire swim meet for us to barely beat Calgary, so I think we’re going to see another really good competition this time. I think it’s going to be tight, and we’ll see where the chips fall.”

TICKETS

Tickets for the 2022 Canada West Swimming Championship can be purchased in advance by clicking here. Single-day passes will also be available for purchase on site during the event.

WATCH

Catch all the action streaming live and on demand on Canada West TV.