The 2011-12 Canada West swimming championships take place Friday, Jan. 27 until Sunday, Jan. 29, hosted by the University of Alberta at the Kinsmen Sports Centre in Edmonton.

Live results will be avaiable on the internet. (LIVE RESULTS / FULL CANADA WEST PREVIEWS / CTV VANCOUVER ISLAND FEATURE ON ZACH PARKES)

The Vikes men, currently ranked No. 8 in the CIS, will compete for the E.W. Griffiths team title trophy, while women's teams are battling for the Felstad Memorial trophy. A Swimmer of the Meet and Rookie of the Meet from both the men's and women's competition will be announced on Sunday evening.

Individual winners and members of winning relay teams are considered First Team Canada West All-Stars. Medalists and all swimmers who meet the CIS time standards will qualify for the CIS championships in Montreal, Feb. 23-25: CIS championships website

SCHEDULE
Friday, Jan. 27 Finals: 5:00-7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 28 Preliminaries: 10:00 a.m.-12:00 Noon; Finals at 5:00-7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 30 Preliminaries: 9:00-11:00 a.m.; Finals at 2:00-4:00 p.m.
(FULL DETAILED SCHEDULE WITH EVENTS)

A number of top Vikes from 2010-11 are focussing on training for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, England, including #Ryan Cochrane#, a 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic medallist and the CIS male swimmer and rookie of the year, who joined the Vikes after the Canada West championship in 2011. Other UVic swimmers in this boat include #Hilary Caldwell# of London, Ont., #Stephanie Horner# of Beaconsfield, Que., #Nicholas Sinclair# of Victoria and #Richard Weinberger# of Surrey, B.C., Weinberger has had a major surge in international recognition since his win at a test-race at the Hyde Park Serpentine in London, England, last summer.

UVic's men are nationally ranked at No. 8 as of Jan. 17. This year's top Vikes males are expected to freshman #Zachary Parkes# of Victoria - a Junior Pan-Pacific open water swimmer who also competed at two recent World Cup events - and junior #Ian Mattock# of Sidney, B.C., a graduate of Parklands Secondary School.

"The Canada West championship is a tough meet since there is a big range of what people want out of it, so you never know what to expect," Mattock said. "Some people just treat it as training, while others fully taper down and try for personal bests and beating the CIS time standard. For us, we're mainly focused on getting the remaining members of our team to qualify for the CIS championships next month, and also go for seasonal bests."

On the women's side, #Eleanora Dalling# (Ella), #Julia Schmidt#, #Elizabeth Sissons# and #Allison Wood# all return to the fold.

UVic Vikes
Men
CIS ranking (Jan. 17): Men 8th
2010-11 CW placing: 4th
2010-11 CIS Placing: 5th
Last CW Title: none
Last CIS Title: none

Women
CIS ranking (Jan. 17): Women NR
2010-11 CW placing: 3rd
2010-11 CIS Placing: 4th
Last CW Title: 1979-80
Last CIS Title: none

Key returnees: Ian Mattock, Ella Dalling
Key additions: Zach Parkes
Key departures: Ryan Cochrane, Richard Weinberger, Nicholas Sinclair, Hilary Caldwell and Stephanie Horner (all taking university season off to train for Olympics); Kim Bryan of Williams Lake, B.C., a 2010-11 CIS relay medallist, has graduated