All that glitters is gold, especially for Kelsey Wog of the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s swimming team.
The Winnipeg-born swimmer brought home a haul last week during the 2020 U Sports national swimming championships in Victoria, B.C., securing four gold medals while setting multiple national records.ll that glitters is gold, especially for Kelsey Wog of the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s swimming team.
First up for Wog was the women’s 100-metre breaststroke event Thursday.
After pacing the competition in the prelims earlier in the day with a 1:05.05 finish, Wog picked up her first gold of the championship with a time of 1:06.44.
Wog beat out Hillary Metcalfe of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds who finished second at 1:10.59.
In the process Wog broke the U Sports record time of 1:07.76 set by Fiona Doyle back in 2015.
Friday brought more metal to the fourth-year swimmer’s mantle courtesy of the women’s 200-metre breaststroke.
Wog secured her spot in the final with a 2:20.22 time in the prelims and brought home the gold with another record-breaking performance in the finals.
Her final time of 2:22.42 was nearly 11 seconds faster than second-place Metcalfe, and over five seconds faster than the U Sports record set in 2015 — again by Doyle — of 2:27.63.
Wog’s winning ways continued into the final day of the competition, where she snagged another pair of golds.
First up for Saturday was the women’s 50-metre breaststroke, where Wog posted the best time in the prelims with a 30.94 second finish, then took home the gold with a time of 31.21 in the final.
Wog’s final individual event saw the swimmer stumble outside the comfort zone of her breaststroke specialty.
She placed third in women’s 200-metre individual medley prelims with a time of 2:13.21 — 0.69 seconds off the lead — but took home a gold medal with a time of 2:10.87 in the finals.
This time was — once again — a U Sports record, as Wog finished nearly two seconds faster than Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson’s 2016 time of 2:12.85.
With four more gold medals and three national records, Wog adds to an already stacked trophy case for the 2019-20 swimming season.
The veteran swimmer picked up four golds and four meet records during the Odlum Brown College Cup in November and picked up four more golds during the 2019 Canada West swimming championships a few weeks later.
Wog will now turn her sights toward the 2020 Canadian Swimming Trials March 31 to April 5 as she continues on the path toward a potential Olympic appearance.
