By Nicole Miller on SwimSwam
2025 U SPORTS SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- March 6-8, 2025
- Toronto, Ontario
- Defending Champions:
- Women – Toronto (3x)
- Men – Toronto (1x)
- Start Times: 9:30 am prelims / 5:30 pm finals (ET)
- SCM (25 meters)
- Meet Central
- Live Results on Meet Mobile
- Live Stream
The UBC Thunderbirds continued their strong meet on Day 2 of the 2025 U Sports Championships with the team taking down 5 meet records.
Kayla Sanchez, who has represented both Canada and the Philippines in the Olympics, contributed three gold medals for the Thunderbirds on night 2 in dominant fashion. Sanchez opened the night for UBC with a meet record in the women’s 50 freestyle. Sanchez posted a time of 24.18, winning the event by over a second to take down the previous mark of 24.25. Toronto’s Teagan Vander Leek took second in the event with a 25.27, while Western’s Zea Wetzlaughk claimed the bronze medal in 25.61. After the 50 freestyle, Sanchez wasn’t done for the day as she also won gold in the women’s 50 butterfly, claiming the meet record in that event as well. With her time of 25.85, Sanchez again won the event by a wide margin, taking .01 off of the meet record of 25.86. In that event, Sanchez also led a podium sweep for the UBC women as Eloise Allen (26.59) and Una Borchgrevink (27.00) claimed silver and bronze.
To close out the session, Sanchez won her third gold as a member of the women’s 800 freestyle relay alongside UBC teammates Anna Dumont-Belanger, Emma O’Croinin, and Camryn Stannard. The team combined for a final time of 7:54.04, winning the event by over 13 seconds with Sanchez producing a field-leading split of 1:55.09. Earlier in the session, O’Croinin won another gold herself, taking the top spot in the women’s 400 freestyle with a time of 4:09.88 to best the field by nearly 4 seconds. Dumont-Belanger finished 2nd in that race with a 4:13.65, with Laval’s Raphaelle Trembaly rounding out the podium in 4:14.13.
Two other UBC Olympians, Blake Tierney and Finlay Knox, also broke meet records on night 2. Tierney won the men’s 100 backstroke in a time of 51.00, erasing the previous meet record of 51.57. Notably, runner-up Andrew Herman from Toronto also dipped under the previous meet record in the final, swimming a 51.49 for the silver medal. His teammate Benjamin Lowen claimed the bronze in the event with a 52.85.
Knox claimed the title in the men’s 200 IM in dominant fashion, leading the field by over 3 seconds in his victory. Touching in a time of 1:54.15, Knox also erased the meet record in the event, which previously stood at 1:55.98. McGill’s Loi Courville-Fortin finished 2nd in the event in 1:57.57, with Laurier’s Kent Goni Avilla finishing 3rd in 1:58.07.
Both Knox and Tierney also contributed to UBC’s meet record in the men’s 800 freestyle relay as they combined with teammates Jake Gaunt and Olivier Risk for a final time of 7:07.23, taking down the meet record of 7:08.50. Like their women’s relay team, the UBC men also won the race by a wide margin, as Toronto finished 2nd in 7:16.24. Earlier in the session, Risk added a gold in the men’s 400 freestyle as he touched first in a time of 3:49.79. He led McGill’s Mats Baradat (3:50.08) and Toronto’s Quinn Mattias (3:51.12), who settled for 2nd and 3rd.
Only one non-UBC swimmer broke a meet record on night 2 as York’s Eric Ginzburg took the win in the men’s 50 butterfly with a 23.05, tying the previous meet record. Behind Ginzburg, the UBC duo of Kai Lilienthal and Finlay Knox contributed a 2-3 finish for the Thunderbirds, finishing in times of 23.14 and 23.35, respectively. Ginzburg also won the men’s 50 freestyle in a time of 21.80, touching just ahead of the Toronto duo of Albert Bouley (21.84) and Liam Weaver (21.89) for the victory.
Calgary’s Alexanne Lepage followed up her 100 breaststroke victory from night 1 with a win in the women’s 200 breaststroke. Lepage claimed the top spot in the event, touching in a time of 2:25.73 to better her opponents by nearly 3 seconds. UBC’s Emma Spence took 2nd with a 2:28.93 as the only other swimmer to dip under 2:30 in the field. Montreal’s Romane Hereng touched 3rd in the event with a 2:30.01.
The men’s 200 breaststroke proved to be a slightly closer race, led by Ottawa’s Hugo Lemesle. Leading the field into the wall, Lemesle touched in a time of 2:08.06 for the victory. Toronto’s Nathan Thomas wasn’t too far behind, coming into the wall with a time of 2:09.10, with UBC’s Tanner Cole taking 3rd (2:09.70).
Another great race occurred in the women’s 200 IM as Toronto’s Nina Mollin claimed her second gold medal of the meet after taking the 100 butterfly on night 1. Mollin used a strong front half to propel herself into an early lead and never looked back, finishing in 2:13.46, exactly one second ahead of UBC’s Camryn Stannard (2:14.46). Stannard led a 2-3 finish for the Thunderbirds, with Emma Spence picking up the bronze (2:16.04) shortly after winning silver in the 200 breaststroke.
Team Standings – After Day 2
Women’s Rankings
- UBC – 1054.0
- Calgary – 597.5
- McGill – 591.5
- Toronto – 496.0
- Alberta – 212.0
- Western – 198.0
- McMaster – 163.5
- Lethbridge – 159.0
- Victoria – 144.5
- Laval – 142.0
- Guelph – 132.0
- Brock – 127.0
- Montreal – 125.0
- Ottawa – 115.5
- Dalhousie – 111.0
- Manitoba – 100.5
- Waterloo – 88.0
- Acadia – 55.0
- Sherbrooke – 4.0
- UNB – 2.0
Men’s Rankings
- UBC – 947.0
- Toronto – 748.5
- Calgary – 589.0
- McGill – 524.5
- Alberta – 248.0
- Western – 233.0
- Ottawa – 190.0
- Victoria – 182.5
- Waterloo – 140.0
- York – 96.0
- Lethbridge – 90.5
- Laval – 80.5
- Laurier – 68.0
- McMaster – 63.0
- Memorial – 58.5
- Dalhousie – 53.0
- Montreal – 48.0
- Sherbrooke – 42.0
- Regina – 38.0
- Carleton – 36.0
- Manitoba – 33.0
- Acadia – 25.0
- UNB – 16.0
- Brock – 13.0
- UQTR – 2.0
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2025 U Sports Championships: Kayla Sanchez Adds 3 Golds, 2 Meet Records for UBC on Day 2