Kelsey Wog continues to strike gold

Bisons swimmer’s mantel full after successful 2018

With 14 gold medals in 2018 conference action, Kelsey Wog cemented herself as a premier Canadian talent in the pool.

Kelsey Wog simply cannot stop winning.

The U of M Bisons swimmer has racked up 14 gold medals so far during 2018 conference and U Sports events.

Her talents were on full display during the Canada West Swim Championship held in Calgary Nov. 23 to 25.

With four individual gold medals, Wog helped the Bisons to a fifth-place finish.

The biggest win came with her last medal of the meet. With a time of 2:22.28 in the 200-metre breaststroke, Wog broke the conference record.

The previous best was set by UBC’s Martha McCabe in 2012. McCabe also competed for Team Canada in the London Olympics that year.

For Wog, the frequency of races during the conference championship took an adjustment, but the work paid off.

“The amount of racing has been really good for me because that’s what I struggled with a bit last year,” she said.

“So it’s nice to get as much practice in as possible before [the Canadian Swimming Trials] in April and the following season. I was really happy about winning four gold medals because it was the first time I’ve been able to achieve it.”

Prior to this was the Odlum Brown College Cup in Vancouver on Nov. 3 and 4, where Wog cleaned up. She took home five gold medals and four meet records at the event.

On day one she took gold in the 50- and 200-metre breaststroke and set new record times in each. Then, on day two she claimed gold in the 100-metre breaststroke, 200-metre individual medley and 200-metre freestyle. She set new records in the medley and freestyle.

“The Odlum Brown Cup went well,” Wog said.

“It was a lot of racing in a short period of time, and I felt like [I] was able to manage the quick recovery piece between races and give each [event] my best effort.”

Wog began 2018 right with three golds during the College’s Cup Mountain back in February. The golds came in the 200-metre individual medley, the 100-metre backstroke and the 100-metre breaststroke.

She also brought home a pair of bronze medals at the College’s Cup in team events. The Bisons placed third in the 200-metre and 400-metre medley relays.

After that Wog brought home two golds and a silver at the U Sports national championship in Toronto.

The third-year swimmer won the 50-metre and 100-metre breaststroke events.

The breaststroke is Wog’s specialty, with nine of her 14 golds won in breaststroke events.

This golden year has only been made sweeter for Wog.

Along with her wins, the swimmer earned a spot with Team Canada at the Pan Pacific Championships in August.

Wearing the red and white, Wog placed fifth in the 200-metre breaststroke and sixth in the 200-metre individual medley.

She was also part of the fourth-place 4×100-metre medley relay finish by Team Canada.

Next up in conference competition for the Winnipeg swimmer — and the rest of the Bisons swimming team — is the 2019 College’s Cup Mountain. The event will be held at the University of Calgary from Feb. 2 to 3.

From there the Bisons will head to Vancouver for the U Sports national swimming championship, from Feb. 21 to 23.