Speedo 2022 Western Canadian Championships
June 7, 2022
Thursday, April 21st through Sunday, April 24th, 2022
35 Edmonton Keyano swimmers are competing at this week's Western Canadian Championships right here in Edmonton and hosted by Edmonton Keyano. This is where Western Canada's top swimmers compete in a 15&under / 16&over female categories and a 16&under / 17&over male categories. Swimmers race in the preliminaries each morning to determine the Top 10 who will proceed to the A Final each evening. Top 20 individual swims will score towards an overall team championship banner. Keyano won the Overall Team and Women's Team banners at the last Western Championships held in 2019; these are the first Westerns since that time.
We have a running tally of top swims and a recap of every day below!
| Tally - Overall Results (after Day 3): |
| Medals | A Finals * | Top 20 ** |
| 32 | 73 | 108 |
* A Finals = Top 10 from preliminaries make the A Final in 15u/16o female and 16u/17o male categories.
** Top 20 = Top 20 individual swims score towards team banners.
RESULTS: Live Results can be found here!
LIVE STREAM: Live Video of the action can be found here!
Prelims start at 9am, Finals at 6pm daily.
Final Summary: Keyano finishes as 2nd Overall, 2nd Women's and 2nd Men's Team in Western Canada!
The finals team scores really showed the story as you could not watch a race in the finals sessions without a Keyano swimmer in it. It made for an enjoyable week for Bear fans who came out to volunteer and watch the Speedo Western Canadian Championships.
32 Medals over the course of 4 days saw the continued dominance of swimmers returning from Canadian Trials 2 weeks ago, like newly named Team Canada members Emma Finlin, Teagan Vander Leek, Christey Liang, and Naomi Slee. And we also saw some breakout performances from some like Reid Maxwell (6 individual medals!) and Gabrielle Dunn, Shayne Bowie, Meghan Berrigan, Kier Przyswitt, Jaden Debruijn and Garrett Brendzan who all added individual medals.
Congratulations to all Keyano swimmers for their achievements this week!
Thank you to all fans who watched and cheered from the stands and online!
And, a very special thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who made the hosting of a national competition possible right here in Edmonton.
Go Bears!
Day 4: 6 Keyano 'A' Finalists in each of the 200m Butterfly, 800m/1500m Freestyle events
On the final night in front of home fans, Keyano's top swimmers finished of a tremendous week by loading a couple more events and completing the week with at least one finalist in every single event at the 2022 Western Canadian Championships.
200 Butterfly
In the 16&over women's event, Gabrielle Dunn kicked off the evening for Keyano with an A Final and finished with a time of 2:26.93 for 8th place.
In the 16&under men's event, Noah Thompson qualified for his first individual A Final and finished with an impressive 2:13.86 in 8th place.
The 17&over men's event was loaded with four more Bears, and Kier Przyswitt led the men with a time of 2:91.16 for 4th place. Drew Edwards started a big night of racing for him with a 6th place finish in a time of 2:11.14. Cameron Chan continued his streak of finals swims with a time of 2:11.46 in 7th place. And, Josh Baldwin hammered home the Keyano presence in the heat with an 8th place finish in a time of 2:11.62.
50 Freestyle
In the para event, Reid Maxwell added to his medal haul with another dominating swim, finishing with a time of 29.64 and a Gold medal!
In the 16&over women's event, Teagan Vander Leek got her hand on the wall in a time of 26.24 for a Silver medal, just ahead of her teammate Christey Liang who finished in a time of 26.31 for a Bronze medal.
In the 17&over men's event, Kier Przyswitt came right back from his 200 Butterfly heat to finish in a time of 24.12 in 4th place. Jaden Debruijn added his best ever performance to the A Final and finished in a time of 24.29 in 6th place.
200 Individual Medley
In the para event, Reid Maxwell was back up for a quick double tonight. He finished with an impressive 5-second personal best time and added a Silver medal!
In the 15&under women's event, Eleaunah Phillips rocked a personal best time in the finals finishing in 12th place.
In the 16&under men's event, Cohen Chan was the top Bear of the day finishing in 18th place.
1500 Freestyle
The 16&over women's event was loaded once again with Naomi Slee dominating the final heat in a time of 17:17.77 in a Gold medal! Shayne Bowie finished off the week as a big time up and comer in western Canada with a time of 17:52.72 and a Bronze medal! With her top finish of the weekend and a 7-second improvement Kendel Przyswitt finished in a time of 18:06.19 in 4th place. Allyssa Jerace made it 4 Bears in the scoring positions in 17th place.
800 Freestyle
In the 16&under men's event, Andrew Chilton was the top Bear finishing with a personal best in 11th place.
In the 17&over men's event, Joshua Baldwin was Keyano's top finisher in a time of 8:42.89 in 6th place. Drew Edwards finished right behind his teammate in a time of 8:43.02 in 7th place.
400 Mixed Medley Relay
The newest Olympic swimming event is one of the most fun to watch: 2 women and 2 men compete in a medley relay... and they can swim in any order. This makes for an event with major swings and you can't tell who's winning until the very end.
Keyano's top squad of Teagan Vander Leek, Garrett Brendzan, Kier Przyswitt and Christey Liang swam at their lifetime bests to combine for a Silver medal!
Keyano's B squad of Cameron Chan, Spencer Mackenzie, Gabrielle Dunn and Naomi Slee snuck themselves up to a scoring position and finished in 17th place.
Day 3: 8 Bears in the 400 Freestyle; Slee and Maxwell hit Gold!
It was a shorter list of events on Saturday with only 4 individual events in store plus the 400 medley relay. The biggest haul for the Bears was in the 400 Freestyle with eight finalists, and once again Keyano had swimmers in every event of the evening - one of only 2 teams to do so throughout the week.
400 Freestyle
Keyano's 16&over women were the favourites again to come away with some hardware, and even then they continued to exceed already high expectations. Naomi Slee closed the door this time in a dominant 6-second victory with a time of 4:21.04 and a Gold Medal! Places 2 through 9 were a dogfight with only 3 seconds separating those positions. Gabrielle Dunn got her hand to the wall first from that fight with a new personal best of 4:27.12 and a Silver medal! Christey Liang added to the loaded Keyano heat with a time of 4:28.37 in 4th place, and Shayne Bowie rounded off a 1,2,4,5 finish for Keyano in a time of 4:29.27 in 5th place. Kendel Przyswitt qualified for the B Final and finished in 16th place.
In the 16&under men's event, Andrew Chilton had a big swim in the morning to qualify for the A Final. He topped that swim in the Final taking off more than 3 seconds from his previous best to finish in a time of 4:19.24 and 10th place.
The 17&over men were led by Josh Baldwin, who finished in a time of 4:12.50 for 5th place. Drew Edwards was right behind his teammate in a time of 4:13.24 for 6th place, giving Keyano 8 finalists in just the first event of the evening!
100 Butterfly
In the para category, Reid Maxwell continued his impressive improvements dropping 8 seconds from his personal best to dominate the event in a time of 1:12.85 and a Gold medal!
In the 16&under men's event, Noah Thompson qualified for his first individual B final of the week with a best time in the preliminaries of 59.63, and he would finish in 14th place.
In the 17&over men's event, Keyano had three A finalists. Kier Przyswitt led the charge for the Bears with a time of 56.23 and a Silver medal! Jaden Debruijn added to his collection of best times this week in a time of 58.28 in 7th place. And, Cameron Chan continued his strong week with a time of 58.62 in 9th place.
50 Breaststroke
In the men's event, Garrett Brendzan had a great start and swam his best-ever 50m time in a clutch A Final performance, moving up from a seed of 5th to clinch a Silver medal in a time of 29.37! Fred Kamminga was hot in pursuit in a time of 29.82 finishing in 6th place.
200 Backstroke
In the 15&under women's event, Eleaunah Phillips made a big personal improvement of nearly 4-seconds to move up to the A Final and then move up again to 6th place.
Four Bears were in the women's 16&over event, with Naomi Slee leading the squad in the A Final with a 2-second personal best time of 2:21.43 for 4th place. Christey Liang won the B Final with her own best time for 11th place, while Zoe Dejonge (16th place) and Madison Kohut (18th place) rounded out the loaded Finals in this event for Keyano.
In the men's 17&over event, Cameron Chan was back in the A Final again, once again fresh off a previous final in the 100 Fly. He swam a strong race and finished in a tie for 9th place. Josh Baldwin qualified for the B Final, also in his second race of the evening, and finished in 14th place.
400 Medley Relay
Keyano's top women's team of Teagan Vander Leek, Meghan Berrigan, Gabrielle Dunn, and Christey Liang swam great personal times in this event, finishing in 7th place.
Keyano's top men's team of Cameron Chan (3rd race of the night!), Garrett Brendzan, Kier Przyswitt and Jaden Debruijn out-touched a charging challenger in the final metres to win the Silver medal!
Keyano men's B team of Fred Kamminga, Spencer Mackenzie, Noah Thompson and Josh Baldwin did a tremendous job moving up from their seed time to finish in 13th place.
After 3 days, Keyano sits in a very secure 2nd overall Team ranking. On a night with one fewer races Keyano still managed to match Day 2's high mark of 18 A Finals / Top 10 finishes. The final day of the spring Championship season promises more great swimming - Go Bears!
Day 2: 27 Individual Finals plus Relay Gold for Keyano Bears!
A constant stream of Gold flowed for the Bears on Friday night from Maxwell's lead-off Gold in the para 100 Freestyle to Gold and Bronze in the women's and men's 800 Freestyle Relays to conclude the evening. 27 individual Top-20 swims and 5 relay results in the Top-20 made for 32 total ranking swims, topping Day 1's incredible start of 28.
100 Freestyle
The men's para-event once again saw young Reid Maxwell surprising the veterans in the field. This time Reid dropped nearly 6 seconds from his previous best in a time of 1:04.39 and a Gold medal!
The 16&over women were up next and familiar faces for Keyano took the stage. Christey Liang was the top Bear finishing with a time of 56.68 and a Silver medal! Teagan Vander Leek was right in the fight for medals and finished with time of 57.53 in 4th place. Emma Finlin made the B Final and finished in 15th place.
17&over men's 100 Freestyle had 2 Bears in the A Final. Kier Przyswitt continued the streak of Keyano medals in a time of 52.43, winning a Silver medal! Jaden Debruijn was hot in pursuit and held on for a personal best time of 53.29 and 7th place. Cameron Chan won the B Final for 11th place.
50 Backstroke
In the women's B Final, Teagan Vander Leek was right back in the pool and finished in 17th place.
In the men's A Final, Fred Kamminga raced to a time of 27.85 and touching in 4th place. Cameron Chan (19th place) and Kier Przyswitt (20th place) were in th e B Final on short rest from their 100 Freestyle swims.
100 Breaststroke
In the para-event, Reid Maxwell added to his medal haul with his second of the night with another 6-second best time, finishing in 1:35.93 for a Bronze medal!
15&under women were well-represented in this event with up and comers Danica Gouglas (14th place) and Kailee Crane (19th place) both earning a B Final. The 16&over women had Emma Finlin (14th place) and Meghan Berrigan (15th place) earning spots in the B Final.
The 16&under men's event had Cohen Chan earning a B-Final and finishing 13th place. And, the 17&over men had 2 more in the B-Final with Spencer Mackenzie (15th place) and Fred Kamminga (16th place).
50 Butterfly
The 16&over women's A Final saw Teagan Vander Leek back for a third swim of the evening and she finished with a time of 28.45 in 6th place.
The 17&over men's A Final was Keyano's first double-medal event of the evening with Kier Przyswitt, also in his third race of the night, getting his hands on the wall 0.06 ahead of the second place finisher to touch in a time of 25.15 and a Gold medal! Teammate at the University of Alberta, Jaden Debruijn, was also in the dogfight for medals out-touching the fourth place finisher by 0.03 seconds in a time of 25.58 and a Silver medal!
400 Individual Medley
15&under women were led in the A Final by Eleaunah Phillips who finished with a time of 5:17.74 in 8th place.
16&over women swept the top 2 positions as the Bears were really taking over the medal podium late in the evening's events. Emma Finlin led wire-to-wire in a time of 4:53.25 for the Gold medal! Naomi Slee continued her ascent in the overall Canadian rankings with a massive 10-second personal best time and finished pulling away from all other challengers for a time of 5:02.16 and a Silver medal!
17&over men were up next and Josh Baldwin was the next Bear to move up from his seeding and snatch a medal, moving up to a Silver medal in a time of 4:40.78! Drew Edwards had another strong day and finished with a time of 4:48.21 for 6th place.
800 Freestyle Relay
This event is often described as the measure of true depth, training, and conditioning on a team. Much like the individual 800 Freestyle, this is a perennial strength for Keyano and was the perfect way to close out a successful Day 2.
The women's relay was up first as Keyano's top sprinters (Christey Liang and Teagan Vander Leek) and top distance swimmers (Emma Finlin and Naomi Slee) teamed up as the favourites. Up to the task, they led from start to finish leaving little doubt on their way to a dominant Gold medal!
Showcasing amazing depth in the women's field, Keyano's B team of Gabrielle Dunn, Shayne Bowie, Madison Kahut and Allyssa Jerace had a terrific race and finished in 6th place. And, Keyano's C team of Gabriella Schenk, Kailee Crane, Anika Slaferek and Brooke Anderson cracked the top 20 to finish in 17th place.
The men's relay saw Kier Przyswitt lead off in his 4th race of the evening (matching Teagan Vander Leek in Day 2 splashes) with fellow finalists Josh Baldwin, Cameron Chan and Drew Edwards team up for a no-doubt top 3 finish, finishing with the Bronze medal!
And, the men's B team of up-and-coming younger swimmers Andrew Chilton, Cohen Chan, Dylan Wales and Noah Thompson had a tremendous move-up result climbing into the Top-20 in 18th place.
After 2 days, Keyano remains in 2nd place overall in Team standings having now pulled ahead to nearly double any team behind them. Women's and Men's teams are also each 2nd place, setting up a big Team result as we move into the weekend races.
Day 1: Keyano women sweep medals in 800 Free; Keyano sits as 2nd overall Team
The Western Canadian Championships opened Thursday on a high note for Keyano. After an amazing Canadian Trials only 2 weeks ago in Victoria (with 6 Keyano members announced to Team Canada), Keyano started Westerns with 25 scoring individual swims on the first day.
200 Freestyle
16&over Women were led by Christey Liang, who qualified for the final in 2nd and then swam a best ever time of 2:01.73 to win the Gold medal by just 0.03 seconds! Naomi Slee added a best time of more than 1 second to finish in 4th place with a time of 2:04.75 and Teagan Vander Leek moved up a spot in the final to finish in 6th place with a time of 2:06.91. In the B Final were Gabrielle Dunn (11th place) and Shayne Bowie (18th place).
17&over Men's event saw Cameron Chan fight hard for a best time of 1:57.44 and finish in 5th place in the A Final. In the B Final was Drew Edwards (11th place).
100 Backstroke
Men's Para-swimming Final was a big event for Keyano's Reid Maxwell, racing as the youngest in this event he rose to the occasion in the Final with a big best time of 1:18.29 and a Silver medal!
16&over Women saw Teagan Vander Leek back to work just a short time after her 200 Freestyle race and finished in 12th place.
17&over Men saw Cameron Chan match Teagan's tough back-to-back Finals and he managed to move up 5 spots from the morning and finish in a time of 1:00.52 in 4th place.
200 Breaststroke
In the 15&under Women's B Final, Eleaunah Phillips finished as Keyano's top swimming in 13th place.
In the 16&over Women's event, two swimmers made the A Final. Meghan Berrigan swam a best ever time of 2:37.47 in a tight head-to-head battle moving up to a Silver medal! Emma Finlin joined in on the fun with a 3-second best time of 2:41.33 in 8th place.
16&under Men were led by Cohen Chan who broke the 2:30 barrier for the first time and finished with a new personal best of 2:29.87 in 6th place.
17&over Men saw two boys finish 1-2 in the B Final: Garrett Brendzan (11th place) and Spencer Mackenzie (12th place).
800 Freestyle
A perrennial marquee event for Keyano, the performances on Day 1 are worth a special mention from a team perspective. In just the last 10 years Keyano has seen swimmers Tabitha Baumann, Nadine Williams, Emma O'Croinin, and now Emma Finlin (announced after the 2022 Trials) named to Team Canada's top national team. But great performances are never isolated, as proven by today's results in Edmonton where 6 Keyano women placed in the Top 15, and Keyano completed the super-sweep of places 1st through 4th!
16&over women were led by Emma Finlin who cruised to a time of 8:51.40 and a Gold medal! Right behind her was Naomi Slee in another 5-second personal best time of 8:56.13 and a Silver medal! Gabrielle Dunn also brought her personal best with a time of 9:09.30 and a Bronze medal! Shayne Bowie rounded out the 1-through-4 sweep with a great swim and time of 9:15.03 in 4th place! Sneaking into the Top 10 was Kendel Przyswitt bringing her best time to the party in a time of 9:34.39 in 10th place. And, finishing with yet another big swim and sharing in the domination of Keyano in this event is Allyssa Jerace in 15th place.
1500 Freestyle
16&under Men were led by Andrew Chilton who had one of the biggest best times of the day with a 12-second best time of 17:04.59 in 6th place.
17&over Men's event saw Drew Edwards duke it out in a close race and finish with a time of 16:32.05 in 4th place and Josh Baldwin right behind him in a time of 16:35.77 in 5th place.
400 Freestyle Relay
The Women's event was a wire-to-wire Silver medal for Keyano's top squad of Christey Liang, Teagan Vander Leek, Gabrielle Dunn and Emma Finlin. Keyano's B team of Kailee Crane, Gabriella Schenk, Danica Gouglas and Claire Francis stepped up as well and finished in 18th place.
The Men were in a 3-way battle and just ran out of room to hunt down the top spot, finishing with a Silver medal for teammates Jaden Debruijn, Cameron Chan, Josh Baldwin and Kier Przyswitt.
That brings a total of 8 medals (6 individual & 2 relay), 19 A Finals and 28 total Top 20 finishes on Day 1 - Wow, good luck to everyone on Day 2!