Golden Bears and Pandas swimmers bring home hardware from Canada West championships

The Golden Bears and Pandas swimming team are coming home from Canada West Championships this past weekend with some hardware.

Alberta finished with a total of 14 medals for the weekend, collecting nine gold, one silver, and four bronze medals, equalling their total from last year.

Overall, both the Bears and Pandas teams finished third in points, with the Pandas collecting 407, and the Bears finishing with 607.5. UBC ended up winning both the men’s and women’s events.

Head coach Colleen Marchese was happy with how both the Bears and Pandas performed at the event, citing many swimmers who were new qualifiers for the CIS championships, and many swimmers who set personal best times.  

“We have less depth, so we wanted to come in, even with fewer swimmers, and make an impact, and I think we really have,” Marchese said.

Two Bears swimmers set team records over the course of the event. Josiah Binnema set the team record in the 100-metre butterfly event, while Nick Kostiuk broke the team record in the 100-metre breaststroke.

Kostiuk and Joe Byram were big winners in the medals category, taking home four golds apiece, three individual, and one from the 4X100 metre medley relay. Byram also earned a silver in the 4X100 metre freestyle relay, giving him a total of five medals for the event.

These were positive results for both teams, but the Bears and Pandas are teams going in opposite directions.

The Bears are a more established team, with the Bears being a more established team, with fifth year swimmers Joe Byram and Tom Krywitsky leading the way. Both were members of the Bears 4X100 metre medley relay team that won the team’s first gold medal in 18 years at the CIS championships earlier this year. Marchese acknowledged that the Bears will be in a bit of a rebuilding period for next year.

“Our men are going to be looking to develop themselves in the next few years to take over those big shoes that they have to fill,” she said.While the ultimate goal is to win at these events, the Bears and Pandas had other goals they wanted to accomplish as well.   

The Pandas, on the other hand, are in that rebuilding phase now, with only a solitary fifth year swimmer graduating this year. Their influx of talent is arriving next year, headlined by blue chip prospect Georgia Kidd.

“Our women’s team is in a rebuilding phase, and when I look towards the recruits we have for next year, it’s exciting, because I can see that we’re just getting better,” Marchese said.

“It’s always cyclical. You’re going to have the years when everyone’s there, and then you’re going to have the years where you’re going to have to step back and rebuild.”“We have less depth, so we wanted to come in, even with fewer swimmers, and make an impact, and I think we really have.” 

The next major meet on the calendar is the CIS championships, which take place in February. Marchese is looking for the Bears and Pandas to build off their momentum from their strong showings at the Canada West championships.

“Now what we do is get back in the pool. We keep training, we keep working on their technique, because that’s what ultimately is going to lead to the improvement,” Marchese said.

Both the Bears and Pandas will get now get back in the pool for a couple months of fine tuning before getting a chance to showcase their skills on the national stage at the CIS championships.