UCSC Wins Western Canadian Champs!

A huge contingent of 75 UCSC swimmers were represented at the 2023 Western Canadian
Championships, for many of which, it was their first ever Westerns. Not only was UCSC a huge,
noticeable presence on the pool deck with our team gear, red tie-dye swag, and loud cheering, but the
swimmers were turning heads all weekend in the pool. PB’s were dropping like crazy, tons of swimmers
advanced to finals and climbed on to the podium, and many records fell as well. It was a complete team
effort, as UCSC took home the team banner, repeating as champions, with a point total of 3176.5 –
more than tripling 2nd places score. Congratulations to all swimmers!

Nick Duncan swam to a club record in the 100m fly, breaking the 55 second barrier for the first time,
stopping the clock at 54.95. Aiden Norman broke Olympic gold medalists, Mark Tewksbury’s, 100m back
record in a time of 56.07. Hayleigh Haines bettered her own 13-year-old 100m breast club record with a
1:13.96. Katie Graboski also put her name on the record board, swimming the 50m breast in a speedy
32.63. The foursome of Paul Dardis, Aiden Norman, Nick Duncan, and Lorne Wigginton broke the club
record in the 4x100m free relay with a time of 3:30.17.

The swimmers weren’t done there, as they also rewrote some provincial records! Nick Duncan’s 50m fly
time of 24.85 was a provincial record. Kamryn Cannings bettered her own in the 100m fly with a time of
59.59. And the same relay team of Wigginton, Dardis, Duncan, and Norman swam to a provincial record
in the 4x200m freestyle with a time of 7:42.01.

The club is not done yet though, as most of these swimmers have another meet in less than two weeks
time. 50 swimmers are off to Montreal where they look to close out this competition cycle with a bang.
26 swimmers are heading to Toronto for the Canadian Swimming Trials, where they will face off against
the best in the country.

Lastly, we cannot forget the parents. The meet went off without a hitch, thanks to our amazing
volunteers and officials. Thank you all for your time and effort in making the weekend a successful and
memorable one!