U SPORTS RECAP: Gee-Gees continue strong championship after Day 2, men rank 3rd and women 10th
It was another productive day for the Gee-Gees swim team in Victoria on Friday, completing day two of action at the 2023 U SPORTS Championship.
Ottawa's men's team sits in third place overall after Friday, while the women's team is in 10th, heading into an exciting final day on Saturday.
"It's a grueling meet and it's a team championship," said Gee-Gees head coach Dave Heinbuch. "Everyone is really supporting their teammates and they're racing their hearts out. I really can't ask for anything else."
In the men's 50 backstroke, the Gee-Gees were able to haul in a large share of points with five swimmers advancing to the final after a dominant showing in prelims in the morning.
In the A Final, Ryan Jensen's outstanding effort had him finish just shy of the podium, placing fourth with a time of 26.45. Ottawa was all over the B Final, with four swimmers getting the chance to race each other.
Evan Aguiar-Winter placed first in the final with a time of 26.60, James Steele (27.02) came third, with Noah Wagner close behind in fourth with 27.35. First-year swimmer Ethan Fast posted a time of 27.49 grabbing solid points in his first championship meet.
In the women's 100m breaststroke, Lauren Shearer finished fifth in an incredibly close race with the third to sixth place finishers only separated by fractions of a second. On the men's side, it would be the same result for Hugo Lemesle, who also finished fifth with a time of 1:03.25.
A stacked B Final of the men's 200m freestyle featuring Colin Shearer, Nathan Beaudin-Bolduc, and Louis Bertrand produced key points for the Gee-Gees as well.
Colin Shearer logged an impressive performance in the A Final of the 400m individual medley, resulting in a sixth-place finish. Brendan Van Herk finished fourth in the B Final, while Alex Strople and Jack Haycock also finished first and second in the C Final.
Shaunna Walker-de Jong and Vanessa Thebarge collected good points in the 50m butterfly, with solid swims in the C Final.
In 4x200m freestyle relay action, a young team of Rachel McInnes, Amy Meharg, Isabelle Melanson, and Kate Hulford finished 8th overall with a time of 8:22.38.
On the men's side, it was a fifth-place finish for Aguiar-Winter, Beaudin-Bolduc, Bertrand, and Shearer with a time of 7:37.15.
An action-packed Saturday gets underway at Saanich Commonwealth Place at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET. For full results and upcoming heat sheets click HERE.
"We have a chance to come second still in the men's and the women want to move up their placing as well, tomorrow morning is going to decide it all," said Heinbuch.
All events will be streamed live on CBC Gem and on the CBC Sports YouTube channel.