Four Vikes records fall, Hanus earns third medal at U SPORTS Swimming Nationals

*See original story here* VANCOUVER – The University of Victoria Vikes wrapped up Day 2 of the 2019 Odlum Brown U SPORTS Swimming National Championship with four more school records broken, while third-year Vike Danielle Hanus earned her third medal of the championship.
 
More school records fell on Feb. 21 as the women's 4x200-m freestyle team set a new long course record, while in that relay Hanus set a new 200-m freestyle record in the lead-off leg. Fifth-year Vike Buzz Mallender set two new school records both in the 50-m backstroke. Mallender set a short course Vikes record in his preliminaries and long course record in the finals.
 
The U SPORTS Championship has been swimming short course preliminaries and long course finals since 2015, when the meet was last hosted in Victoria.

Danielle Hanus (left) on the podium with her silver medal in the 50-m backstroke.

Hanus finished second in the 50-m backstroke behind four-time defending champion and Olympian Kylie Masse of Toronto who broke her own U SPORTS long course record with a time of 27.94. Hanus finished in 28.78, while UBC's Ingrid Wilm was third in 28.78. In the men's 50-m backstroke, Mallender was the lone qualifier finishing first in the C-Final for 17th overall in 26.84. Earlier in the Day during preliminaries Mallender broke his own 50-m backstroke short course record of 26.01 from 2016 in a new time of 25.91.
 
In the women's 100-m breaststroke, rookie Jamie Hellard qualified for the B-Final and finished 15th overall in 1:15.85. Fourth-year Vike Kara Wilson had a strong swim in the C-Final to finish 20th in 1:15.78. On the men's side, Bailey Espersen was the lone Vike in the A-Final and finished sixth in 1:04.79. In the C-Final Daniel Greer was 19th in 1:05.91, while Arthur Firmino was 21st in 1:06.55.
 
"That was Bailey's first A-Final in (the 100-m breastroke) and he's more of a 200-m breaststroke so it was great to see him make that final and then he had a really good finish tonight, too," said Vikes head coach Peter Vizsolyi. "I'm really happy for Arthur, though, because he had a great race to qualify and performed well in the C-Final. He was moving well in the last 25-m and his performances at his first nationals as a masters student was just something you wouldn't expect."
 
Fifth-year Vike Taylor Snowden Richardson qualified for the C-Final in the women's 400-m individual medley and raced a personal best time of 5:17.31. In the men's event the Vikes had three swimmers qualify for finals. Josh Zakala raced in the A-Final and finished seventh overall in 4:32.03, while in the C-Final Ethan Phillips finished 22nd (4:41.93) and Eric Hedlin was 24th(4:43.35).

Wrapping up the night the women's 4x200-m freestyle relay set a new school record in 8:27.88. Hanus' lead-off leg time of 2:02.91 set a new long course record in the 200-m freestyle, while team mates Lauren Taylor, Allison Ballantyne and Kaitlin Gervais also contributed to the record team performance. The Toronto Varsity Blues set a new U SPORTS and Canadian record to win gold in 8:07.20.
 
"Three of the relay guys were coming right out of the 400-m IM and Eric's still not swimming the way he would if he hadn't just traveled to two different countries," said Vizsolyi about the men's relay. "Josh was really good in the relay and was pushing through injury so for him to get up and lay down that split was really, really good. Buzz was also great leading out."
 
The men's 4x200-m relay was short of the podium by 0.04 seconds as Mallender, Hedlin, Zakala and Phillips raced to a team time of 7:39.39. McGill's Will Simpson edged Phillips in the final leg to help the Redmen to a bronze medal finish in 7:39.35. The UBC Thunderbirds smashed the U SPORTS record previously set in 2015 to win gold in 7:27.78.
 
"Both relays did well tonight but I think we will have a lot of trouble catching back up and staying ahead of Regina," said Vizsolyi whose teams now sit in seventh for the men and fifth for the women.
 
The third and final day of the three-day meet will take place tomorrow, Feb. 22, at the UBC Aquatic Centre in Vancouver. All events are streamed live with pay-per-view finals at http://usports.live/.
 
Day 2 – UVIC Results
 
Day 2 – Finals
 
W 50m Backstroke: Danielle Hanus (SILVER – 28.78)
M 50m Backstroke: Buzz Mallender* (17th – 26.84)
 
W 100m Breaststroke: Jamie Hellard (15th – 1:15.85), Kara Wilson (20th – 1:15.78)
M 100m Breaststroke: Bailey Espersen (6th – 1:04.79), Daniel Greer (19th - 1:05.91), Arthur Firmino (21st - 1:06.55)
 
W 400m Individual Medley: Taylor Snowden-Richardson (20th – 5:17.31)
M 400m Individual Medley: Josh Zakala (7th – 4:32.03), Ethan Phillips (22nd – 4:41.93), Eric Hedlin (24th – 4:43.35)
 
W 4x200m Freestyle Relay: Danielle Hanus*, Lauren Taylor, Allison Ballantyne, Kaitlin Gervais (5th - 8:27.88)*
M 4x200m Freestyle Relay: Buzz Mallender, Eric Hedlin, Josh Zakala, Ethan Phillips (4th – 7:39.39)
 
Day 1 – UVIC Results
 
Day 1- Finals
 
W 100m Backstroke: Danielle Hanus^ (SILVER - 1:01.56 )
M 100m Backstroke: Buzz Mallender^ (6th - 56.95)
 
W 50m Breaststroke: Jamie Hellard (14th – 32.92), Kara Wilson (17th – 33.37)
M 50m Breaststroke: Bailey Espersen (14th – 29.87), Daniel Greer (15th - 29.91), Arthur Firmino (21st – 30.10)
 
W 400m Freestyle: Kaitlin Gervais (11th - 4:26.10), Lauren Taylor (20th - 4:31.32)
M 400m Freestyle: Josh Zakala^ (4th - 3:59.03), Eric Hedlin^ (9th - 3:59.09), Ethan Phillips (23rd – 4:08.64)
 
W 100m Butterfly: Danielle Hanus^ (BRONZE – 1:00.61)
M 100m Butterfly: Ethan Jensen (12th – 56.23), Daniel Greer (17th - 55.49)
 
W 200m Individual Medley: Allison Ballantyne (19th - 2:27.23 ), Kara Wilson (24th – 2:29.86)
M 200m Individual Medley: Josh Zakala^ (BRONZE – 2:04.35), Bailey Espersen (22nd – 2:10.23), Zachary Dumas (24th – 2:11.47)
 
W 4x100m Medley Relay: Danielle Hanus, Kara Wilson, Allison Ballantyne, Kaitlin Gervais (4th – 4:20.89)*
M 4x100m Medley Relay: Buzz Mallender*, Bailey Espersen, Daniel Greer, Josh Zakala (4th – 3:48.29)*
 
Vikes Records Broken

M 50m Breaststroke SC - Bailey Espersen (28.65)*
M 100m Backstroke SC – Buzz Mallender (54.70)*
M 200m Individual Medley SC – Josh Zakala (1:59.93)*
M 100m Backstroke LC in relay – Buzz Mallender (56.90)*
W 4x100m Medley Relay LC: Danielle Hanus, Kara Wilson, Allison Ballantyne, Kaitlin Gervais (4:20.89)*
M 4x100m Medley Relay LC: Buzz Mallender*, Bailey Espersen, Daniel Greer, Josh Zakala (3:48.29)*
M 50m Backstroke SC: Buzz Mallender (25.89)*
M 50m Backstroke LC: Buzz Mallender (26.84)*
W 200m Freestyle LC in relay: Danielle Hanus (2:02.9)*
W 4x200m Freestyle Relay LC: Danielle Hanus, Lauren Taylor, Allison Ballantyne, Kaitlin Gervais ( 8:27.88)*

*indicates Vikes Record
^indicates qualified for 2019 FISU Games
 
DAY 2 TEAM STANDINGS
 
Women
1. UBC, 891 points
2. Toronto, 815
3. Montreal, 475
4. Calgary, 367
5. Victoria, 206
6. Ottawa, 181
T7. Alberta, 177
T7. McGill, 177
9. Manitoba, 161
10. Laval, 154
11. Western, 153
12. Waterloo, 150
13. Dalhousie, 137
14. McMaster, 130
15. Guelph, 86
16. Regina, 70
17. Sherbrooke, 61
18. Québec à Trois-Rivières, 60
19. New Brunswick, 50
20. Laurentian, 38
21. Wilfrid Laurier, 31
22. Queen's, 15
23. Acadia, 11
24. Lethbridge, 7
25. Brock, 1
 
Men (Nelson C. Hart trophy)
1. Calgary, 656 points
2. UBC, 633
3. Toronto, 500
4. McGill, 431
5. Regina, 339
6. Laval, 291
7. Victoria, 290
T8. Montreal, 250
T8. Ottawa, 250
10. Lethbridge, 176
11. Alberta, 167
12. Western, 135
13. Dalhousie, 109
14. Sherbrooke, 59
15. Manitoba, 55
16. Laurentian, 44
17. Waterloo, 39
18. Acadia, 37
19. Queen's, 32
20. Mount Allison, 17
21. Brock, 12
22. Guelph, 9
23. Thompson Rivers, 6
24. McMaster, 1