Calgarians help University of the Incarnate Word win national title

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It was an impressive feat for the University of the Incarnate Word artistic swim team.

The less-known Catholic school in San Antonio houses five Calgarians as Camryn Hooey, Elizabeth Battista, Lauren Bell, Claire Brett and Aliya Perras are all members of the Cardinals roster. The Calgary natives helped the university bring home its first-ever national championship as the artistic swim team took home the title last month. The win is also the first national team title victory in any sport in the school’s history.

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“Those two are quite huge and I am very proud of those accomplishments,” said head coach Alyson Tshuma. “But I think something I like to get across is that those accomplishments were really just byproducts of all the work this team has put in this whole year.”

Hooey was recruited in the fall of 2021 to UIW, Bell and Battista joined in 2022, and Perras and Brett joined in 2023.

Hooey says the five of them have known each other for a while, and some of them have even known each other for more than 10 years.

“We all swam at the Calgary Aquabelles Artistic Swimming Club,” said Hooey. “I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to have a little reminder of home here in San Antonio on the journey with us.

“It wasn’t so much a plan to all join together, but more of a happy accident.”

Hooey says the five of them are close friends, as they and their two Quebec teammates — Mikaelle Gauthier and Marieve Gagnon — all celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving together.

“We like to do little fun hangouts all together,” said the team captain. “So we definitely have a good bond between the five of us Calgarians and the seven of us Canadians.

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“It’s really great to swim with girls who I’ve been swimming with for years and see how much they’ve improved and they see how much I’ve improved.”

Hooey said she chose the University of the Incarnate Word because of the smaller environment, saying it allowed for her to have a more personal relationship with the professors and the students. As she heads into her senior year, she says it’ll be her last year competing in the sport.

“I’ve been in sport since I was six, so I’ve had a long run in it,” said Hooey. “But I know it’ll be easier saying goodbye to the sport knowing I helped UIW win its first-ever national championship in any sport.”

After finishing second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Conference Championship standings during the regular season,  the team won the first artistic swimming collegiate national championship in UIW’s history. With Calgarians coming into the program every year for the last three years, Tshuma believes Calgary has become a recruiting pipeline for the university. She credits Calgary AquaBelles head coach Jenn Tregale for helping develop the swimmers who have come to her program.

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“She has done a really excellent job coaching her team,” said the head coach. “There’s five on the team right now this year that have been coached by her.”

The team also has a variety of other swimmers from all over the world, including the United States, Canada, France, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Aruba and Russia.

With 16 of the 23 women on the team being from outside of America, Tshuma has taken pride in the diversity on the team.

“I think that’s very special,” said the coach. “They each bring in all of their perspectives and their experiences.”

Tshuma said the university has become known for its international athletes, calling it one of the school’s biggest strengths.

Heading into next season, she hopes the team can replicate its success.

“I just expect them to keep doing what we’ve been doing every year,” said the coach. “Setting our goals that are in our control, try to achieve those goals, show up with enthusiasm, show good joy, keep being there for each other, supporting one another and keep trying to be the best that we can be.”

DEEP DIVE

Here is how the five Calgarians performed this season:

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Camryn Hooey: Junior

Collegiate Nationals — duet: second, trio: fourth, team: second, honorary All-American

MPSF Conference — all-academic, all MPSF second team, duet: third, trio: third, team: first

Elizabeth Battista: Sophomore

Collegiate Nationals — duet: first, trio fourth, team: second, honorary All-American

MPSF Conference — all-academic, all MPSF first team, Duet: second, Trio: third, Team: first

Lauren Bell: Sophomore

Collegiate Nationals — team: second, Certificate of Achievement (4.0 GPA).

MPSF Conference — all-academic, team: first

Aliya Perras: Freshman

Collegiate Nationals — team: third

MPSF Conference — team: third (alternate), B elements: fourth

Claire Brett: Freshman

Collegiate Nationals — team: third (alternate), B elements: first

MPSF Conference — team: third (alternate), B elements: second

mkaake@postmedia.com

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