By Lethbridge Herald on March 5, 2025.
By Justin Seward
Lethbridge Herald
Twelve University of Lethbridge Pronghorn swimmers are set to battle in the pool at the U Sports Championships beginning today at the University of Toronto.
“We feel pretty good,” said Horns head coach Peter Schori.
“USports is the pinnacle of our season and it’s what we focus everything towards for most of the team. We have half the team qualified for nationals this year and based on how everything has gone leading in, the kinda number one thing over the last month or so is staying healthy and we’ve achieved that.”
The Horn women’s swimmers will be led by Delaney Lehman, who has swam her way into the top five of the national rankings in the 50m breaststroke and backstrokes.
She will compete in the above mentioned events, the 100m backstroke and two relays.
“I think Delaney’s ready to have a good meet,” said Schori.
“Delaney’s been a hard worker for a few years now but I think her confidence is matching up with her talents and abilities. I think she’s gonna have a great weekend.”
Schori thinks Lehman will be in two or three A finals.
Makena Wood, Meadow Liversuch, Casara Holm and Amelie Gouttin are others to watch.
The Horns will be led on the men’s side by Raine Arden, who will be competing in his fifth and final USports Championship.
Arden comes in having been ranked in the top ten in the national rankings under the swimming competitions of 100m freestyle and 200m freestyle and he will swim the 4x100m freestyle relay.
Tristan Bennett is the top-ranked Horn going into the championship as he sits in the top 5 in the country in the 50m and 100m breaststroke and is expected to be a major factor in the individual events and relays.
Parker Brown and Tanner Sanders will make contributions in the 4x100m freestyle relay.
The Horns will consider this championship a success if they can both teams in the top 10 for overall scoring.
“That’s something that we haven’t done before (in) getting there on both sides ,” said
Schori.
The Horns expect to be challenged by the meet’s format with the six sessions and heaps and finals being hosted on all three days
“So some of our swimmers over the next few days are gonna race 15 or 16 times in three days and that’s pretty tough,” said Schori.
Usports Swimming Championships can be viewed on all CBC platforms and the schedules can be found at www. en.usports.ca/championships/2024-2025/2024-25_Swimming/index.
The Championships runs today through Saturday at University of Toronto.
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