SWIM: UBC ready to host 2024 Odlum Brown Canada West Swimming Championships

Nov. 19, 2024 - The best swimmers from across the conference are ready to descend on Vancouver for the 2024 Odlum Brown Canada West Swimming Championships, hosted by the UBC Thunderbirds from Nov. 22 to 24, 2024. 

The conference's fastest swimmers from seven different schools will race for the podium at the UBC Aquatic Centre, a state-of-the-art facility that serves as a hub for athletic training and competition on UBC's campus.

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The event will feature two sessions a day from Friday through Sunday, with a jam packed schedule that features nearly 40 total events in both male and female competitions.

Joining the host Thunderbirds will be competitors from the Calgary Dinos, Victoria Vikes, Manitoba Bisons, Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas, Lethbridge Pronghorns and Regina Cougars.

A full schedule and live results for the event are available on the event homepage.

All six sessions will be available to stream live on CanadaWest.TV.

Thunderbirds look to use home pool advantage in pursuit of podium

The host Thunderbirds are a perennial podium threat and will feel right at home in the familiar confines of the UBC Aquatic Centre. The UBC women's team is looking to defend last year's conference title, which was the 33rd conference banner in team history.

Meanwhile, the 'Birds men will look to build off a silver medal performance at last year's event, which was claimed by the Calgary Dinos. The championship banner was the Dinos' second straight conference crown and their conference leading 22nd overall title.

The competition this weekend will be fierce, featuring multiple student-athletes with Olympic experience. That list includes UBC's Emma O'Croinin, Kayla Sanchez, Blake Tierney and Finlay Knox, as well as Regina's Ovesh Purahoo, who represented Mauritius in the 100-metre freestyle at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

The results have been strong for the T-Birds so far this year, including a dominant showing at their own Sports Illustrated Clubhouse Colleges Cup event held at UBC Aquatic Centre earlier in November. Both UBC men's and women's programs topped the podium at the event, which featured top-tier swimming teams from across western Canada.

On the women's side, the T-Birds' Colleges Cup performance was led by a trio of strong performances. Kayla Sanchez took first in the 100 individual medley and 100 freestyle, Bridget Burton took home wins in the 100 and 200 backstroke, while Emma O'Croinin won the 200 and 400 freestyle. Look for all three to be medal threats in the pool this weekend.

Meanwhile, a Calgary Dinos women's team looking to chase down the T-Birds will be led by dynamic sophomore star Alexanne Lepage. The reigning Canada West Swimmer of the Year was the story of last year's championships, incredibly capturing four individual gold medals in a 24-hour time span in the 100 metre and 200 metre breaststroke events as well as the 200 metre and 400 metre individual medley races. She's been in fine form again this season, dominating all three breaststroke events at the Colleges Cup and setting a meet record in the 200 metre individual medley with a time of 2:09.94.

On the men's side, expect the Thunderbirds and Dinos to once again duke it out for top spot. The Dinos will be led by Pan American Games multi-medallist Stephen Calkins, who was named the 2023 Canada West Swimmer of the Year. The fifth-year sprinter has been strong again this fall, helping the Dinos to a team win at their annual Dino Invitational earlier in October. He won all four of his individual events that weekend while also helping the Dinos to a win in the 200 metre free relay.

Calgary also saw strong Dino Cup performances from Thomas McDonald and Gibson Black, who finished 1-2 in the 50 metre fly, as well as rookie Nicholas Duncan, who captured a pair of wins in the 100 metre fly and 200 metre IM.

For the host T-Birds, all eyes will be on first year Finlay Knox in his Canada West Championships debut. The Olympian amassed a meet-high 96 points in the Colleges Cup event, claiming first in the 100 metre individual medley, the 100 metre breaststroke, the 50 metre backstroke and the 200 metre butterfly.

He'll be surrounded by a deep field of teammates. Six fellow Thunderbirds picked up individual wins at the Colleges Cup, including Tanner Cole (400 individual medley), Ethan Hemeon (200 breaststroke), Kai Lilienthal (100 butterfly), Siu Lun Ho (50 freestyle and 50 butterfly), Justice Migneault (200 individual medley), Blake Tierney (100 backstroke), and Olivier Risk (1500 freestyle).

The action at the 2024 Odlum Brown Canada West Swimming Championships gets underway with Session #1 on Friday, Nov. 22, with heats beginning at 4 p.m. PT.