Wog triumphs in British Columbia

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This article was published 01/03/2019 (2724 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Not one, not two, not three, but four gold medals later, and Kelsey Wog is again at the top of her class in university swimming.

Wog, 20, left the competition in her wake at the 2019 U Sports Odlum Brown Swimming Championships, held at the University of British Columbia on Feb. 22 and 23.

The third-year breaststroke specialist from Linden Woods won the 50-, 100-, and 200-metre events, breaking the U Sports record in the last by two seconds in a time of 2:25.50. She also beat the pack in the 200-metre individual medley in a time of 2:13.98.

“It was a really good meet and it was definitely a goal of mine, so I’m happy I was able to achieve that,” Wog said.

Wog, who also holds the Canada West conference record in the 50-metre and 100-metre breaststroke, said breaking the U Sports record in the 200-metre breaststroke was top of mind ahead of the competition. At the end of the day, the University of Manitoba swimmer touched the wall a whole seven seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.

“I knew the U Sports record was in reach and I’ve swam under that quite a few times before,” she said.

“I didn’t set goal times for expectations. It was more performance goals like executing certain things I’d been working on in practise,” she added. “I was able to do that too, so it was a success.”

Since she began university competition, Wog has proven to be a force for the Bisons swim team. She joined the Herd straight out of high school in 2015, after beginning her swim career with the Bisons developmental team at 13-years-old. At that time, head coach Vlastik Cerny described Wog as being gifted and having strong intuition in the water.

“She’s like a fish,” Cerny said at the small signing event at the Joyce Fromson Pool, and a non-exhaustive run down of Wog’s career-so-far backs up his initial assessment.

In her first year, Wog was named Canada West Rookie of the Year, set two Canada West championship meet records, and won the 100-metre breaststroke at the U Sports championship.

By the end of year two, Wog had won six medals at the 2017-2018 Canada West Swimming Championship; picked up three more gold and one silver in the 50-, 100- and 200-metre breaststroke and 200-metre individual medley at the 2018 U Sports championship; swam two personal bests at the 2018 Canadian Swimming Trials; and competed at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

Cerny said Wog’s training continues to push her limits and it’s been exciting to watch her development over the course of her swim career.

“Each time we get to a point where there’s an improvement, we start looking for the next thing to improve,” Cerny said. “And in her case, she’s really accelerated her training, so she’s training at a very high level.

“The other piece is she’s maturing mentally and emotionally and that’s a big piece that’s allowing her to be really competitive at a high level.”

Wog has two years of university competition left and a few more lofty goals she’d like to accomplish.

“After this meet, it hit me that I’m over halfway through, and I’m really proud of how far I’ve come,” she said. “Looking back, I definitely saw things that were my weakness and I’m really proud that I’ve been able to get through those and improve on it.

“I’m really happy, and really motivated, and because the Olympics are next year, that’s a huge, little thing, that I keep in the back of my mind.”

While Wog tends to take competition one day at a time and is modest about her accomplishments, Cerny said they are keeping an eye on the big picture, and hope to continue the upward trajectory.

“I think I can see far more in her than she sees in herself,” Cerny said. “She’s one of the most gifted swimmers that I’ve ever coached.

“The sky’s the limit. She’s now taken her training to a totally new level and she’s challenging herself and wanting to push herself.”

Wog will compete at the Canadian swimming trials again this spring and hopes to earn a spot on Team Canada for the world championship event.