King Midas is jealous of Danielle Hanus’ performance.
One of the University of Victoria Vikes best medal hopefuls capped off a dream individual U SPORTS National Swimming Championship run – she still has one more relay race remaining.
On Day 1, she won a pair of events where the gold evaded her grasp in the past.
“Honestly, I haven’t been thinking too much about my races or performances. I just get in, try to do my best and whatever happens, happens,” said Hanus.
Well, all that happened was that for an encore, she doubled down and tied a U SPORTS individual medal record by totalling four golds.
In the first women’s event on the evening, she won the 100m back by nearly a full second. Two hours later, she returned for the 200m butterfly – an event where she was the two-time defending national champion – and retained her crown with a two-second victory, which also set a new U SPORTS long track record.
The New Market, Ont., swimmer wasn’t just out-touching her competition, she was leaving them in her wake.
“In the 200m fly, I could see two black blobs in my periphery, so I knew to keep pushing. During the 100m back, I couldn’t see anyone, so I just spun my arms as fast as possible,” said Hanus.
Exhausted in her third race of the day, the 4 x 200m free relay, she brought her team from sixth up to fourth in the third leg, where they eventually missed a bronze by less than two seconds.
“I was exhausted by the end, but the whole time I was in the water, I just wanted to do the best I could for the three other girls because I knew that they were all pushing it as hard as possible and gunning for it,” said Hanus. “It was awesome to have everyone get in, go for it and do their best.”
By law, she is not allowed to win – compete in – a fifth individual event on Day 3 (which means she has the morning off tomorrow). She could, however, return for a relay race, where if she won, she would be in the conversation for the greatest Vikes swimmer of all time – if she isn’t there already.
While Hanus was the only hardware-earner this evening, she wasn’t the only Vike that turned out impressive finishes against the nations best.
Swimming with Hanus in the 100m back ‘A’ Final was the local girl, Lauren Crisp. She improved on her eighth-place entry to finish fifth with a time of 1:03.46.
A gold medal winner and U SPORTS record setter last night, Josh Zakala was in medal contention halfway through his 400m freestyle race. Unfortunately, the field caught and passed him down the stretch, as he finished sixth with a time of 3:59.14.
In a tightly contested men’s 200m breaststroke final, Bailey Espersen proved he is one of the tops in the nation with his fifth-place multiplication-table time of 2:20.40.
In the final event of Day 2, the men’s 4 x 200m free team of Padric McKervill, Eric Hedlin, Ethan Phillips and Zakala placed eighth in 7:41.91.
DAY 2 TEAM STANDINGS
Men (Nelson C. Hart Trophy)
- UBC, 719 points
- Calgary, 571
- Toronto, 537
- McGill, 530
- Victoria, 336
Women
- UBC, 744.5, points
- Toronto, 701.5
- Calgary, 590.5
- Victoria, 411.5
- Montreal, 363.5
Day 3 Vikes Preliminary races (10 a.m.):
M 50m Breast: Daniel Greer, Bailey Espersen
W 50m Breast: Jamie Hellard, Kara Wilson, Kira Grebinsky, Andrea Farmer
M 200m Back: Josh Zakala, Ethan Phillips
W 200m Back: Lauren Crisp, Sarah Kirkhope
W 100m Free: Tabitha Craig, Alexandria Hedges, Jamie Hellard
M 200m IM: Padric McKervill, Zachary Dumas, Bailey Espersen
W 200m IM: Victoria Mock, Allison Ballantyne, Kara Wilson, Kira Grebinsky, Andrea Farmer
