UBC sweeps crew titles at 2025 CW Swimming Championships

Recap by University of Lethbridge Pronghorns Sports Information

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – The UBC Thunderbirds received the 2025 Canada West Swimming Championships, sweeping the crew banners for the second 12 months in a row and claiming each particular person award throughout three days of competitors on the Max Bell Regional Aquatic Centre.

Led by standout performances from Kayla Noelle Sanchez, who was named the convention’s feminine Swimmer of the Year, and first-year star Aiden Kirk, who earned each males’s Swimmer of the Year and Rookie of the Year honours, the Thunderbirds as soon as once more confirmed their depth throughout each rosters.

“I’m so proud of these athletes. They’ve worked incredibly hard from the very start of the season,” stated Thunderbirds head coach Derrick Schoof, who was named each males’s and ladies’s Coach of the Year following the occasion.

“We’ve got great energy, great athletes, and a group that is truly committed to excellence. I’m proud of how hard they’ve been working. They deserve this success.”

The host Lethbridge Pronghorns additionally gave their residence followers loads to cheer about whereas ending fourth on each the boys’s and the ladies’s facet, capturing three bronze medals and setting two new Pronghorn information.

On the ladies’s facet, the Thunderbird girls received their fourth straight convention crown – and 15^th title in 16 years – with a dominant 1032 factors. Calgary completed second with 801.5, and Victoria was third with 512.5. Lethbridge was subsequent within the girls’s standings with 321 factors, whereas Manitoba totalled 193 and Regina completed with 145.5.

Schoof highlighted the balanced effort behind the Thunderbird girls’s victory.

“Lots of great results across the board. Of course, Kayla Sanchez was outstanding, truly world-class swimming, but this is a real team event. For us, it’s about making sure all 18 women step up, and they all did.”

UBC’s banner within the males’s competitors is their second in a row, topping the standings with 1062.5 factors. The T-Birds held off Calgary, who completed the meet in second with 892 factors, whereas Victoria was third with 492.5. Lethbridge (271), Manitoba (166) and Regina (133) rounded out the boys’s outcomes.

Schoof praised his males’s effort as properly, noting their resilience towards robust competitors from Calgary and the remainder of the sector.

“Calgary always has a strong squad, and we never take them for granted. They came out swinging, and we had to be at our best. I knew going in that we could do it, and the team delivered.”

Sunday Event Results

200m Butterfly

The Calgary Dinos began Sunday’s finals with a roar, sweeping the rostrum within the girls’s 200m butterfly. Kaitlyn Luu completed first in 2:17.61, whereas teammates Hayley French (2:19.18) and Jasmine Nicols (2:19.53) had been neck and neck in ending second and third.

In the boys’s 200m butterfly, Thunderbird Aiden Kirk took the highest spot, touching the wall in a time of 1:59.57. His T-Bird teammate Raben Dommann took second with 2:00.58, whereas Calgary’s Nicholas Duncan earned the bronze in 2:01.64.

100m Freestyle

Olympian Emma O’Croinin received the ladies’s 100m freestyle with a time of 54.76. Calgary’s Eliza Housman (55.38) and UBC’s Brooklyn Wiens (56.06) had been the subsequent two to the touch the wall.

Another UBC Olympian took the rostrum within the males’s 100m freestyle when Yuri Kisil touched the wall with a 48.26 end. The T-Birds swept the rostrum as Jake Gaunt completed shut behind in a time of 49.43, adopted by Siu Lun Ho (49.47).

200m Individual Medley

Calgary’s Sarah Haugan received the ladies’s 200m medley, with the Dino profitable in 2:16.41. UBC’s Camryn Stannard (2:16.95) and Jade Lo (2:16.97) had been extraordinarily shut behind.

The males’s 200m IM noticed a good race for the highest spot. It was UBC’s Jaques Harrison who received to the wall first in 1:59.77, pulling forward of Calgary’s Ian Cameron within the final 25m. Cameron’s silver medal time of two:00.25 was simply forward of ​ Dino teammate Nicholas Duncan (2:01.14).

100m Backstroke

UBC’s Bridget Burton accomplished a sweep of the backstroke occasions, ending the 100m race in 58.38. Teammates Eloise Allen (58.93) and Piper Mitchell (1:00.46) rounded out the rostrum.

Raben Dommann received the 100m backstroke for the Thunderbirds in 52.25. Calgary’s Thomas Macdonald was second on the rostrum, ending in 54.06, whereas his Dino teammate Ethan Fast claimed the bronze with a 54.75 end.

200m Breaststroke

After a break for medal ceremonies, Calgary’s Alexanne Lepage earned her fourth gold medal of the weekend, sweeping the breaststroke occasions after a 2:25.16 within the 200m. UBC’s Amaris Peng was in subsequent at 2:32.05, and Emma Spence took the bronze in 2:32.19.

It was a UBC sweep as soon as once more within the males’s occasion, spearheaded by Justice Migneault clocking in at 2:09.08. Next on the rostrum was Glen Omielan (2:10.62), whereas Sebastian Van de Logt (2:11.08) grabbed the bronze.

400m Freestyle

Emma O’Croinin continued her phenomenal meet by breaking the Canada West file within the girls’s 400m freestyle, delivering an exciting swim to grab gold with a time of 4:12.65. Ruby Kehler (4:18.06) and Emma Spence (4:18.17) adopted behind to safe a UBC podium sweep.

Kehler would additionally go on to be named the Female Rookie of the Year following the meet.

The remaining particular person occasion of the competitors noticed UBC’s Aiden Kirk and Paul Hebrard go head-to-head for the boys’s 400 freestyle, with Kirk ending first in 3:49.14 and Hebrard second with 3:52.81. Calgary’s Aiden Gyorfi completed third in 3:55.03

400m Medley Relay

The meet ended with a pair of thrilling 400m medley relay finals, as UBC secured a weekend sweep of the relay occasions.

The UBC girls discovered an early lead with backstroke powerhouse Bridget Burton, whereas the Dinos caught up and pulled forward when Alexanne Lepage took her flip. The Thunderbirds would take again the lead within the third leg and maintain on for the victory in 4:00.36, with the Dinos claiming silver in 4:05.67. The host Pronghorns claimed bronze simply forward of Victoria, ending with a time of 4:11.88.

Mirroring the ladies’s outcomes, the UBC males completed first within the medley relay with a time of three:32.83, with the Dinos second (3:35.37) and Victoria third (3:40.51).

VIEW FULL EVENT RESULTS HERE

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

Women

​UBC – 1,032.50

​Calgary – 801.50

​Victoria – 512.50

​Lethbridge – 321

​Manitoba – 193

​Regina -145.50

Men

​UBC – 1,062.50

​Calgary – 892

​Victoria –492.50

​Lethbridge – 271

​Manitoba – 166

​Regina – 133 

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

Female Rookie of the Year Award – Ruby Kehler, UBC

Male Rookie of the Year Award – Aiden Kirk, UBC

Female Student-Athlete Community Service Award – Meadow Liversuch, Lethbridge

Men’s Student-Athlete Community Service Award – Stephen Moore, Calgary

Female Swimmer of the Year Award – Kayla Noelle Sanchez, UBC

Male Swimmer of the Year Award – Aiden Kirk, UBC

Coach of the Year Award (Men’s and Women’s) – Derrick Schoof, UBC 

Women’s Swimming All-Star Teams

Female Canada West 1st Team All-Stars

UBC – Kayla Noelle Sanchez

UBC – Emma O’Croinin

UBC – Bridget Burton

CGY – Alexanne Lepage

UBC – Sela Wist

UBC – Jade Lo

UBC – Brooklyn Weins

UBC – Emma Spence

CGY – Kaitlyn Luu

CGY – Eliza Housman

CGY – Sarah Haugen

UBC – Eloise Allen ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 

Female Canada West 2nd Team All-Stars

CGY – Hayley French

UBC – Camryn Stannard

UBC – Amaris Peng

UBC – Ruby Kehler

UBC – Piper Mitchell

UBC – Benya Mattig

Men’s Swimming All-Star Teams

Male Canada West 1st Team All-Stars

UBC – Aiden Kirk

UBC – Jake Gaunt

UBC – Justice Migneault

UBC – Ethan Hemeon

UBC – Siu Lun (Frank) Ho

UBC – Kai Lilienthal

UBC – Yuri Kisil

UBC – Jacques Harrison

CGY – Nicholas Duncan

UBC – Paul Hebrard

UBC – Raben Dommann

Male Canada West 2nd Team All-Stars

CGY – Ian Cameron

CGY – Thomas McDonald

CGY – Ethan Fast

UBC – Glen Omielan

UBC – Jake Gaunt

UBC – Olivier Risk