2015 CIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- February 19-21
- Victoria, British Columbia
- Prelims 10 a.m Pacific time
- Finals 6 p.m Pacific time
- Schedule
- Psych Sheets
- CIS Swimming Homepage
- Live results
- Current university rankings by event
- Live Webcast
Follow @MitchBowmile for live-tweets all weekend for the CIS Championships
WOMENS 100 BACK
Marie-Pier Couillard is trying to establish herself early on as the top backstroker at this competition. On day one, she won the 50m backstroke and on day two she took the top seed in the 100m backstroke prelim.
Couillard swam a time of 58.78 to fall just short of the CIS Championship record which currently stands at 58.67. The time was good enough to give her the middle lane for finals though ahead of Toronto’s Kylie Masse.
Masse was also very fast this morning, sporting a 59.07 to take the second seed overall. She’ll be right beside Couillard for tonight’s finals which should shape up to be a fast one.
Third overall was Genevieve Cantin, also of Laval, rocking a 1:00.52 ahead of Montreal’s Barbara Jardin. Jardin clocked in at 1:01.00 for the fourth seed.
MENS 100 BACK
The men’s 100m backstroke is going to be a very tight field tonight packed with talent. Currently it’s Laval’s Pascal-Hugo Cantin leading the way with the 53.56 he threw down to take the top seed this morning.
Alberta’s Joe Byram, who has had a fantastic year thus far, took the second seed overall in 53.37 ahead of Mitchell Benkic. Benkic, representing the University of British Columbia, touched in at 54.21. Bradley Crocker followed him in 54.41.
Crocker will be one of two swimmers from Calgary in the final.
Last night’s 50m backstroke winner, Thibault Delecluse, will also be racing tonight after taking the fifth seed ahead of Toronto’s Matthew Myers.
Sneaking in for eighth was UBC’s Yuri Kisil.
WOMENS 50 FLY
There’s no surprise that last night’s 100m fly winner Katerine Savard took the top spot this morning after the prelims of the 50m fly. With only one finals session completed, Savard is already a triple gold medalist here at the CIS Championships and gunning for a fourth gold.
Manitoba’s Kimberly Moors was the second fastest with a time of 27.14. Paulina Bond, representing the Western Mustangs, clocked in at 27.16 for third overall.
Fourth was Sandrine Mainville. Mainville is the 2014 CIS champion in this event, and won the 50m fly at Canadian Trials last season. With a fourth seed, she won’t be in the middle, but she’s still expected to challenge her teammate Savard.
Jacomie Strydom of UBC, who set a new CIS Championship record in the 100m fly yesterday, took the seventh seed with a 27.57.
MENS 50 FLY
Coleman Allen did it again, and this time, he tied a Canadian record in the process. Allen rocked a 23.31 to tie Joe Bartoch’s Canadian record and break the CIS Championship record (23.33) set by Toronto’s Mike Smerek back in 2012.
He led the field by a wide margin as the second fastest qualifier was over seven tenths behind him. Dillon Perron of Manitoba grabbed the second seed and will be beside Allen in finals.
Third was Otawa’s Robert Bonomo followed be Toronto’s Edward Liu and UBC’s Luke Peddie.
WOMENS 400 FREE
The women’s 400m freestyle final is going to be one that’s all too familiar to those who have been following either Canadian swimming or the CIS: a Barbara Jardin Savannah King showdown.
King took the top seed this morning with a 4:14.24 over Montreal’s Barbara Jardin. Jardin clocked in at 4:15.23 in a different heat.
Jardin is the defending champion in the event and last year was a neck-and-neck race between the two. Jardin eventually pulled away and secured a win by over a second.
These two look to have more in the tank for tonight’s finals, which should shape up into a fantastic race.
MENS 400 FREE
Some familiar names from last night’s 200m freestyle final as well as last night’s 400m IM final will be present tonight in the men’s 400m freestyle led by UBC’s Keegan Zanatta.
Zanatta, the defending 400m freestyle champion, rocked a 3:49.35 this morning to take the top spot over teammate Jonathan Brown. Brown wasn’t far off as he clocked in at 3:49.54.
One more swimmer dipped under 3:50 as Western’s Robert Wise snuck in with a 3:49.88 to take the third seed overall. Winner of the 400m IM on night one, Tristan Cote, also grabbed a finals position with a fourth place finish overall.
The 200m freestyle champion, Stefan Milosevic, will also be in the final.
WOMENS 200 BREAST
The women’s 200m breaststroke is jammed back with talent, yet still, Calgary’s Fiona Doyle was far ahead of the pack. Doyle swam a 2:23.64 which broke her own Irish national record in the event.
Defending champion Tera Van Beilen won’t be beside her tonight, as she finished fourth overall this morning back in 2:28.07.
Both Calgary’s Tianny Rissling and Van Beilen’s teammate Erin Stamp were faster, taking the second and third spot respectively.
Toronto’s Vanessa Treasure and Montreal’s Sarah-Lee Hevey are just two other very talented swimmers who qualified to swim tonight’s finals. The women’s breaststroke events are some of the toughest at the CIS Champs, but right now it’s looking as though Doyle could grab her second win of the meet.
MENS 200 BREAST
Day one’s 100m breaststroke winner from Toronto, Eli Wall, took the top seed in the men’s 200m breaststroke setting himself up nicely for the possibility of a breaststroke sweep.
Wall was a 2:12.13 to lead the way. Bogdan Knezevic won’t make it easy for Wall in finals as he was behind him by the slimmest of margins this morning with a time of 2:13.14.
Also close were Jonathan Nasiby, Connor Michie, Luc Boudreau, Dillon Perron, and Nick Kostiuk who were all in the 2:13 range.
Other than eight place finisher Hunter Balch, all the finalists were within one second of each other.
WOMENS 50 FREE
Sandrine Mainville is on the right track to defending her sprinters cup after taking the top seed in the women’s 50m freestyle on day two. Mainville clocked in at 25.07 to separate herself by a slim margin from the remainder of the field, but enough to create a dominating presence.
Carolina Lapierre-Lemire was the closet to Mainville, rocking a 25.31. She was just one one-hundredth ahead of Toronto’s Paige Schultz who touched in at 25.32 for the third seed.
Sandrine Mainville’s sister, Ariane Mainville, will also be swimming in the final. Sandrine Mainville made it clear that the two set a goal to finish 1-2 in the sprint freestyles, which is something that could come true tonight if all goes right. Ariane Mainville was very quick sporting a 25.43 to take the fourth seed.
MENS 50 FREE
The men’s splash-and-dash was fast indeed with all eight finalists under 23 seconds this morning. UBC’s Alex Loginov came close to Colin Russell’s CIS Championship record of 21.73 this morning with a time of 22.03 to fall just three tenths shy of the mark.
Coming second overall was Yuri Kisil who could be setting up a potential 1-2 finish for UBC in finals after swimming a time of 22.13. Chris Manning of Toronto is the guy who could stop that as he was right with the two leaders rocking a 22.24.
After the top three, the others were a little further back. Mitch Ferraro was a 22.52 followed by a 22.54 by Luke Peddie. The top five are all Toronto and UBC swimmers.
WOMENS 200 FLY
It’s only two days in and Katerine Savard is setting herself up for her fifth win of the competition and a sweep of the fly events. Savard, who as of now has never lost at the CIS Championships, took the top seed in the 200m fly this morning with a 2:12.09.
UBC’s Jacomie Strydom was the closet to her in 2:12.50.
The two will face off in the 50m fly earlier in finals before taking to the blocks in the 200m fly. Savard is the absolute favourite in most. She’s the second fastest Canadian of all time in the long course 200m fly and the fastest Canadian ever in the 50m fly.
Although she’s unrested, she is still putting up some great results here in Victoria as the Canadian Trials in April approach.
MENS 200 FLY
Coleman Allen broke his second CIS Championship record of the day en route to taking the top seed in yet another event. Allen was a 1:54.56 in the 200m fly to set him up for a butterfly sweep tonight.
Justin Chan, also of UBC, was second behind him by a large margin in 1:59.82.
Only one other swimmer was under two minutes as Calgary’s Thomas Jobin just squeezed under the two minute barrier with a 1:59.97 to take third heading towards finals.
Great coverage, Mitch. Keep it coming.