February 3, 2011

Dinos swimmers earn conference honours

University of Calgary swimmers Erica Morningstar and David Dimitrov were named the Canada West athletes of the week after their respective standout performances at the conference swimming championships last weekend at UBC in Vancouver.

Both student-athletes were named Canada West swimmer of the year after their multiple-medal, record-breaking performances. They will return to the pool when the Dinos defend their national titles at home in the 2011 CIS Swimming Championships, Feb. 24-26 at the University of Calgary Aquatic Centre.

Male: David Dimitrov, University of Calgary Swimming
David Dimitrov earned his Canada West swimmer of the year award in the very first race of the weekend—then added four more gold medals to boot.

In the 1500 metre freestyle, the marathon of swimming, Dimitrov shattered one of the oldest Canada West records in the book with his time of 15:18.83, taking more than two seconds off the time set by the Dinos’ Mike Meldrum in 1990. His time also set a new UBC pool record, shaving almost four seconds off the old mark set at the 2009 CIS championships.

The sophomore then added gold medals in the 400 IM, the 200 butterfly, and the 400 freestyle to go with relay gold in the 4x200 freestyle and silver in the 4x100 medley relay.

Dimitrov’s Medals
Gold: 400 IM (4:20.30); 200 fly (2:01.00); 400 free (3:52.65); 1500 free (15:18.83) – CW & UBC pool record; 4x200 free relay
Silver: 4x100 medley relay

Female: Erica Morningstar, University of Calgary Swimming
The gold medal haul that has been Erica Morningstar’s career continued over the weekend at the Canada West swimming championships, where she collected six more finishes atop the podium along with one silver medal to earn Canada West female swimmer of the year honours.

In addition to her six gold medals, which came in the 50 backstroke, the 50 breaststroke, the 100 breaststroke, the 200 individual medley, the 4x100 freestyle relay, and the 4x100 medley relay – she also set two new Canada West records. Her time of 1:07.02 in the 100 breaststroke knocked 0.08 seconds off the conference mark set by national recordholder Annamay Pierse in 2009, while her new Canada West mark in the 200 IM knocked more than three seconds off her own record.

Morningstar’s Medals
Gold: 50 backstroke (28.71); 50 breaststroke (31.67); 100 breaststroke (1:07.02) – CW record; 200 IM (2:09.60) – CW record; 4x100 free relay; 4x100 medley relay
Silver: 4x200 free relay