(Photo: U of L Pronghorns Athletics & Recreation)

By Justin Goulet

U of L Pronghorns return home with six medals at Canada West Swim Championships

Nov 29, 2021 | 9:40 AM

EDMONTON, AB – It was a very successful weekend for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns swim team.

Athletes competed at the Canada West Swim Championships in Edmonton.

In his first championship meet, first-year Apollo Hess won a gold medal in the 50-metre breaststroke. Chris Alexander followed up a bronze medal in 2019 by winning silver in the 50-metre backstroke.

In day two on Saturday, the U of L captured two more medals.

Hess again earned some hardware, winning a silver medal in the 100-metre breaststroke. Hess finished with a time of 59.36, just losing to UBC’s Justice Migneault.

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For the second consecutive conference, the Pronghorns men’s relay team won a silver medal in the 4 X 100 freestyle relay. The team was comprised of Hess, Adam Stromberg, Raine Arden and Parker Brown.

In the championships’ final day on Sunday, Apollo Hess earned his second gold medal by winning the 200-metre breaststroke by nearly three seconds. He broke a previous record set in 2016.

Hess’ impressive showing at the weekend meet earned him Swimmer of the Meet and Rookie of the Year awards. He set new Canada West records in the 50-metre and 200-metre breaststroke.

Over the weekend, he earned five medals, with his fifth coming Sunday alongside teammates in the 4 X 100 medley relay. Hess earned bronze with Raine Arden, Parker Brown and Chris Alexander.

Sophie MacLean placed seventh in the 50-metre freestyle on Saturday for the Pronghorns, while Casara Holm finished eighth in the 100-metre butterfly in the ‘A’ final. Holm had the best finish Sunday for the U of L’s women’s team, placing 12^th in the 100-metre freestyle. In the women’s 4 X 100 medley relay, the Pronghorns finished fifth.

On the men’s side, Lethbridge finished the weekend in fifth with 292.5 points, while the UBC Thunderbirds earned the top spot of the weekend with 947 points.

For the women’s side, Lethbridge placed sixth with 196.5 points. The University of Calgary finished in first with 823 points.