The Warriors have dominated again. UW skated their hearts out at the OUA figure skating championship, then went on to set personal records at the U Sports swimming championship while competing with the best Canadian athletes at the university level.
Alexandra Mai Lee
Being the first figure-skater to be named athlete of the week this year is far from the only reason fourth-year Kingston native Alexandra Mai Lee will have her name etched in program history. Her outstanding performance at the OUA Figure Skating Championships in Toronto saw her walk away with three bronze medals, including the Gold Artistic medal, the first in UW history. She also won bronze in senior pairs, the first medal in seven years for the Warriors, and in synchro, the first in 15 years. The cherry on top of a historical weekend? She scored 18 out of the Warriors’ 51 total points.
“I love performing for a crowd,” Lee says. “It makes me excited to skate.”
Lee first started skating at four years old. Originally, she “hated it,” and refused to go to training sessions, but the sport began to grow on her when she started “watching the figure skaters after practices, [and] how they moved,” asking her parents to sign her up. She started figure skating when she was nine and rapidly developed her skills.
She came to UW primarily to study biomedical engineering, but was elated to discover the figure skating team.
“I reached out to the coach, attended tryouts, and here I am,” Lee recalls.
At the OUA figure skating championships, Lee initially felt “a mix of nervousness and excitement. [Our team] had a really strong season leading into this, so the pressure was on.” Three individual medals and a fourth place OUA finish for the team later, and they certainly lived up to the hype.
Lee models her style after Korean Olympic gold medalist Yuna Kim, but also took the time to commend the UW student-athlete coach Rebecca Brown for her efficient management of the team.
“[The figure skating team] doesn’t have a coach right now, and she’s taken on the role as captain and coach. She’s someone I look up to,” Lee says.
Now entering her final year of university, Lee will join Brown as co-captain of the figure skating team, where she plans to keep elevating the program’s ceiling. Many skaters will be graduating this year, but that’s no deterrent for the bronze medalist.
“A lot of [UW’s] success this year came from how adaptable and resilient we are. A lot of us are in co-op and it can be tough to navigate practices and injuries. But the fact we still got a great result with those setbacks, I’m proud of our team’s adaptability,” Lee says.
Alex Boden
Clocking in his personal best time of 1:58:36 in the men’s 200m butterfly at the U Sports Swimming championship, finishing in sixth place, fourth-year Hamilton native Alex Boden exceeded his own expectations in the last competition of his university career. The computer science major also had a season-best time in the 100m butterfly, 53.61, which placed him at 13th. This is Boden’s second athlete of the week award.
“You only really have one chance a year to set personal bests, the rest of the time you’re in heavy training and not primed to perform your best. So to set my best time [at U Sports], it means a lot to me,” Boden says.
Swimming competitively since nine years old, Boden came to UW after speaking with coach Jacky Bedford Henriques. Five years later, he says the experience has shaped him.
“A lot of my best friends have come from the swim team. It’s like a built-in community,” he says. “I’ve definitely accomplished more than I expected, my goal was to get a time under two minutes in the 200m butterfly and I did that.”
Now closing off his swimming career, Boden says he’ll be looking to try new things as he leaves university.
“I’ll definitely be around [UW swimming] again. A lot of graduates come back to show support and that means a lot to [our team]. It’d be great to reconnect with everyone a few years down the line,” Boden says.
