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Toronto men and Western women repeat as OUA swim champions
Source: OUA Communications & Laurentian Sports Info / Photo credit Jing Ling Kao
- RESULTS
DAY 3 RECAP
SUDBURY, ON - The OUA Swimming Championships wrapped up tonight at Laurentian University and the theme of breaking records continued as two more relay and four individual marks were set.
McMaster's Konrad Bald set the first record of the night in the 50m breaststroke with a time of 28.40 in a preview of a great performance just an hour later. Bald and his McMaster teammates wrapped up the 2012 OUA's in style as they smashed the 4x100m freestyle relay record by five seconds with a time of 3:19.88 in the last event of the meet.
Sandwiched in between Bald's record setting races, Guelph's Alisha Harricharan set the mark in the 100m butterfly at 1:00.32, followed by Toronto's Mike Smerek in the same discipline at 53.57. Toronto's Andrea Jurenovskis set the record in the 50m backstroke with a time of 28.44 and the Western women's relay team bettered their mark in the 4x100 freestyle relay with a time of 3:47.15.
After winning both the 200m and 400m IM, Toronto's Vanessa Treasure and McMaster's Cameron Bailey were named the winners of the Dr. Jeno Tihanyi Awards for Individual Medley Excellence. Both athletes were also named female and male Swimmer of the Meet, respectively.
Western currently took the women's banner with 954.5 points, followed by Toronto with 713.5 and McMaster with 560.5. Toronto topped the men's side with 816 points, followed by McMaster with 671 and Western with 638.
For the home town Laurentian squad, Brittany Maltais and Emily Jones both reached the podium on the final day of competition. Maltais won the 50m breaststroke in a time of 32.65 and Jones was third in the 50m backstroke, clocking in at 29.60.
Team Standings - Final
Women
1. Western - 954.5
2. Toronto - 713.5
3. McMaster - 560.5
4. Ottawa - 453.5
5. Guelph - 339
6. Brock - 221.5
7. Laurentian - 212
8. Waterloo - 129
9. Laurier - 119.5
10. Queens - 90
11. Carleton - 32
12. York - 24
13. Trent - 5
Men
1. Toronto - 816
2. McMaster - 671
3. Western - 638
4. Guelph - 466
5. Ottawa - 392
6. Waterloo - 321
7. Laurier - 133
8. Laurentian - 124
9. Queens - 111
10. York - 105
11. Brock - 45
12. Carleton - 24
13. Trent - 20
MAJOR AWARD WINNERS
Coaches of the Year:
Men - Toronto
Women - Western
OUA Swimmers of the Year:
Female - Vanessa Treasure, Toronto
Male - Cameron Bailey, Ottawa
Rookies of the Year:
Female - Bridget Coley, Toronto
Male - Graham Hawes, Toronto
Dr. Jeno Tihanyi Awards for Individual Medley
Excellence:
Female - Vanessa Treasure, Toronto
Male - Cameron Bailey, McMaster
OUA Awards of Distinction:
Heather Maitland, Toronto
Pamela Ruksys, Toronto
Heather Martin, Western
Wesley Greig, Waterloo
Matthew Stevenson, Guelph
Brittany Maltais, Laurentian
DAY 2 RECAP
SUDBURY, ON – The record breaking party continued in
Sudbury on Friday night as six more records fell at the OUA
Swimming Championships; 2 relays and 4 individuals.
It was more than half way through the session before a new record
was set but that’s all it took as the rest seemed to fall
like dominos. Toronto’s Vanessa Treasure set the first
record of the night in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:10.94
and she will go for the breaststroke sweep tomorrow night in the
50m event after she set the mark in the 200m last night.
After Treasure lit the fuse, the rest of the swimmers took over rewriting the record books. Guelph’s Alisha Harricharan set the mark in the 50m butterfly at 27.31s followed by Toronto’s Mike Smerek in the same discipline at 24.04s.
The most impressive swim of the night came from a pair of Toronto swimmers in the women’s 800m freestyle. Bridget Coley and Heather Maitland were neck and neck all the way to the wall before Coley out-touched Maitland by a fingernail in a time of 8:38.49, 19 seconds ahead of 3rd place and destroying the 12 year old record by over 6 seconds.
It was then left to the relay teams to write some history as both 400m medley relay records were set. On the women’s side, Toronto now holds the record with a time of 4:12.52 and the men’s title belongs to Toronto as well with a time of 3:44.52.
Western currently leads the women’s side with 659 points, followed by Toronto with 462 and McMaster with 377. Toronto tops the men’s side with 542 points, followed by Western with 413 and McMaster with 384.
For a full list of results please visit http://www.personainternet.com/slsc/2012oua/. The action continues Saturday with preliminaries at 10am and finals beginning at 6pm, which will be webcast on www.ssncanada.ca.
DAY 1 RECAP
SUDBURY, ON -The OUA Swimming Championships got off to a record smashing day one as 1 relay and 4 individual records were set in the Jeno Tihanyi Olympic Gold Pool at Laurentian University. The age of the records varied from 27 years to 7 hours as it was a blistering night in Sudbury.
The record breaking party began early as the Western University Mustangs women's team won the 200m freestyle relay in a time of 1:44.86, breaking the record they set two years ago by over a second. That was soon followed by Heather Maitland (University of Toronto) with a time of 4:10.98 in the 400m freestyle, breaking a 17 year old record. Before the first set of medals was even handed out, Toronto's Frank Despond smashed a 27 year old record by almost 5 seconds, swimming the 400m freestyle in 3:48.63.
Toronto's Vanessa Treasure continued the trend in the 200m breaststroke as she broke an 18 year old record with a time of 2:29.90. Finally, it was Western's Hayley Nell reclaiming her record in the 50m freestyle, edging out McMaster's Sarah Taylor after Taylor set the record in the preliminaries.
For a full list of results please visit http://www.personainternet.com/slsc/2012oua/. The action continues tomorrow with preliminaries at 10am and finals beginning at 6pm, which will be webcast on www.ssncanada.ca.
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PREVIEWS
Women's Swimming Preview
Thirteen different OUA institutions will be represented at this year’s women’s championship and all will be looking to chase down the title from its current owner. The Western University Mustangs are the three-time defending women’s champions and will be a tough opponent to overcome but with five OUA teams ranked among the nation’s best, this year’s meet could be wide open.
Western’s women’s team is led by sisters Hayley and Shannon Nell (London, Ont.), each of whom won OUA gold a season ago. This year, Hayley has won both the 50m and 100m freestyle events twice. Her time in the 100m free stands as the best time on the season in OUA action. Younger sister Shannon looks poised to repeat her OUA gold medal in the 200m butterfly as she has claimed gold twice in the event so far this year. Other strong contributors for the Mustangs are Paulina Bond (Toronto), who won the 100m butterfly twice this season, and Ashleigh Dunnington (Prescott, Ont.) in the freestyle sprints. In the last rankings before the championships, the Mustangs were ranked sixth in the nation and do not want to relinquish their title.
The 2011-2012 season has been strong for the women from Toronto, and the No. 3 ranked Blues, who already have nine CIS qualifiers, are the best option to dethrone the Mustangs. With four returning gold medalists and all-stars from a year ago, Toronto has the ability and experience to challenge in several different events. Sophomore Vanessa Treasure (Mississauga, Ont.) has seen her fair share of success, including striking gold four times at the Tihanyi Championships. Fifth year senior Heather Maitland (Toronto) has been strong in all her freestyle events this year, winning at least once in each of the 200m, 400m, and 800m races. Other standouts for the Blues include Pamela Ruksys (Kingston, Ont.), Andrea Jurenovskis (Timmins, Ont.), and newcomer Margot Cunningham (Waterloo, Ont.) who has won the 200m backstroke event twice this season and has the fifth fastest time of all CIS swimmers.
The McMaster Marauders have a trio of strong freestyle sprinters
who will be looking to make waves at this year’s
championship. The Marauders are led by third year swimmer Sarah
Taylor (Stittsville, Ont.) along with Emily Fung (Markham, Ont.)
and Jessica MacKenzie (Innisfil, Ont.). Taylor is also a strong
challenger in the butterfly, joining her teammate Lynnaea Mulligan
(Surrey, B.C.), a winner in the 200m fly at a dual meet this year,
in that discipline. The team’s second place finish at the
Tihanyi Championships solidifies their abilities and the No. 8
ranked Marauders look to push for a podium finish at this
year’s championship.
The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees women are strongest in the
backstroke and butterfly styles and will look to pick up big points
in those events at this year’s championship. Rookie Sherry
Patel (Mississauga, Ont.) claimed gold in the 50m and silver in the
100m butterfly at the Ontario Cup event while Ashley Wright (Beaver
Bank, N.S.) is just shy of a top ten time in the country in the
200m fly. Taylor Moore (Regina, Sask.) and Chantelle Boduel
(Vancouver, B.C.) are the backstroke tandem for the Gee-Gees. Moore
owns the fastest Ontario time in the 200m while also having a top
ten time in the 100m. Ottawa may not have the most individual gold
medals to their name, but their team performance is always strong
and the No. 9 ranked Gee-Gees will be challenging for a team medal
this year.
After last year’s fifth place finish, the Guelph Gryphons are looking to close the point differential with those ahead of them and move up the standings. The No. 10 ranked women are a relatively young squad but have had strong performances from several members including rookie Erica Pate (Brantford, Ont.), winner of the 100m freestyle and 200 and 400 individual medley events throughout the year, and sophomore Alisha Harricharan (Brampton, Ont.) who won three different freestyle distances and the 50m fly twice this season. Harricharan has already reached CIS qualifying times in every butterfly distance while teammate Olivia Andersen (Oakville, Ont.) also qualified in the 50m fly.
The Laurentian Lady Vees boast two swimmers having star seasons in Emily Jones (Orangeville, Ont.) and Brittany Maltais (Charlottetown, P.E.I.). Jones had three top five finishes at the Tihanyi Championships, is coming off three first place finishes at a dual meet in Waterloo, and has already qualified for the CIS championship in the 50m and 100m backstroke events. Maltais won the 50m breaststroke at the Tihanyi Championships, posting a CIS qualifying time in the process.
The Waterloo Warriors best gold medal chances fall to team captain Bronwyn Kemp (Waterloo, Ont.), winner of the 200m breaststroke at a quad meet and at the Stratten Championships, and rookie Alex Chow (Gormley, Ont.) who has set team records in the 50m and 100m butterfly this season.
The Brock Badgers have four swimmers leading the way in each event category. Delia Caughlin (St. Catharines, Ont.) is the Badgers’ breaststroke specialist, winning the 50m event at the Stratten Championships and qualifying for the CIS championships. Erica Dugas (Mississauga, Ont.) is the most consistent freestylist while Katie So (Mississauga, Ont.) excels in the butterfly and Laura Perry (Kingston, Ont.) in the backstroke.
Other teams competing at this year’s championship include
the Laurier Golden Hawks, led by Renee Dijk (Stratford, Ont.) who
had three top-ten finishes at the Tihanyi Championships, all in the
backstroke events. Shahira Ishak (Cobham, England) of the
Queen’s Gaels will be looking to make waves after leading the
Gaels in every freestyle category so far this year. Having a strong
year for the Trent Excalibur is Daniela Sheinin (Peterborough,
Ont.), leading her team in the freestyle and butterfly.
Carleton’s Alexandra Sheffield (Burlington, Ont.) has
competed in every discipline so far this year and will be looking
to bring some points to the Ravens squad. Sprinter Shubhangni
Dagar, competing in the backstroke, freestyle and butterfly, looks
to help the York Lions better their last place performance from a
season ago.
Preliminary racing begins at 10 am with the first finals session
beginning at 6 pm on Thursday, February 9. The last races of the
championship are scheduled to begin at 6 pm Saturday evening. Each
finals session will be webcast and is available at www.ssncanada.ca/games
Check back at oua.ca for updates from the OUA Swimming Championships and for complete results following the meet.
Men's Swimming Preview
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues cling to an eight year title reign and look poised to stretch that streak to nine years. The Blues won last year’s championship by more than 140 points so the rest of the field is looking to close that gap and challenge for gold.
So far this season Toronto has qualified 11 men for the CIS championships later in February and production has come from veterans and rookies alike. The Blues return several members of their relay squads from last year who are also excelling individually this year. Curtis Samuel (Oakville, Ont.), Luke Hall (Swaziland, Africa), and Jeremie Holdom (Toronto) have all won medals throughout the season. Mike Smerek (St. Catharines, Ont.) returns to defend his 50m fly title from a year ago and rookies Graham Hawes (Scarborough, Ont.) and Brian Lee (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) have not looked out of place. Hawes swept the backstroke events at the Tihanyi Championships and owns the fastest 50m time in Canada, while Lee won the 50m breaststroke and 100m freestyle at Tihanyi. Heading into the championships as the No. 1 ranked team in the country, look for the Blues to claim their ninth straight title.
There are four teams that will be likely to challenge for the remaining podium positions – McMaster, Guelph, Western, and Ottawa – and all have been mentioned in the national rankings at one point this season. The McMaster Marauders return three quarters of the record breaking 400m freestyle relay team from a year ago, including Cameron Bailey (Hamilton, Ont.), Matthew Vogelzang (Waterford, Ont.), and Michael McDonald (Kingston, Ont.). Each of these swimmers have already struck gold in individual events this year and will be the driving force, along with Ben Stubbs (Markham, Ont.), for the No. 9 ranked Marauders.
The Guelph Gryphons look set to improve upon their fifth place finish at the OUA championships last year. Starting the year ranked sixth in national polls, the Gryphons still maintain a national ranking at No. 10 heading into this weekend. Leading the way is captain Wil Wright (Mississauga, Ont.) who is coming off a strong quad meet where he won four events, including the 100m freestyle, the event which Wright is looking for his second consecutive OUA gold medal. Joining Wright are all the members of last year’s gold medal winning 200m and 400m medley relay teams consisting of Ben Roberts (Kingston, Ont.), Matthew Stephenson (Brantford, Ont.), David Nowicki (Etobicoke, Ont.), and Troy Baxter (Ottawa). Each of these swimmers have already punched their ticket to the national meet in Montreal but will be heavily leaned upon for contributions to Guelph’s point total.
This year’s Western Mustangs squad is led by Robert Wise (Dorchester, Ont.) and David Hatch (North York, Ont.), both all-stars a year ago and both finding success in the freestyle events this year. Look for Wise to challenge in the distance events after capturing gold in the 400m and 1500m freestyle events at the Stratten Championship and posting a top five time in the nation in the 1500m. Western will also challenge in the butterfly with Parker Garrod (London, Ont.) and Mark Loyzer (Hamilton, Ont.). The Mustangs as a team were impressive at the Stratten Championship but this year’s younger squad will be in tough against the rest of the OUA teams.
The Ottawa Gee-Gees missed the podium by one spot last year and are hoping to change that this time around. Adam Best (Ottawa) leads the men’s squad once more after earning three individual and two relay medals at last year’s championship. Best placed in all backstroke events a year ago and enters this year’s meet having won the 100m at the Ontario Cup event. Stefan Ruksys (Kingston, Ont.) and Bernard Joosten (Ottawa) have had solid seasons in various events and will be important factors to the success of the Gee-Gees.
Wes Greig (Arnprior, Ont.) leads the Waterloo Warriors team, boasting the top Ontario time in the 200m breaststroke. He has already qualified for the CIS championships but his veteran experience will help carry the Warriors. Graeme Kemp (Waterloo, Ont.) has seen marked improvements over the course of the year and recently set a new school record in the 400m individual medley at a quad meet. The Warriors had several top three finishes at the Stratten Championships which they hope will transfer over to this weekend’s meet.
The Laurentian Voyageurs eight man squad are led by Matthew Huetl (Aurora, Ont.) and Daniel Juhasz (Brampton, Ont.). Huetl, a sophomore, has led the Vees in the freestyle and butterfly events while senior Juhasz is strong in the backstroke and breaststroke disciplines.
The York Lions are looking for a repeat of 100+ points at this year’s championship and will be led this year by rookie breaststroke specialist Phil Bogdanowicz (Ottawa) and Brett D’Souza (Toronto) in the butterfly.
Other teams competing at this year’s championship include the Brock Badgers who will be leaning on Brett Montgomery (North Bay, Ont.) for points in his first championship. The rookie has led the Badgers in the freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly all season. Laurier’s Andrew Warr (Baden, Ont.) had two top ten finishes at the Tihanyi Championships and will be looking to tally some points in the butterfly events. Queen’s distance swimmer Tanner Cassidy (Whitehorse, Yukon) looks to showcase his talents in the 1500m freestyle event. Adrian Forsythe (Fallbrook, Ont.) will lead the small, young contingent from Trent in both the freestyle and backstroke. Carleton’s Andrew Vo (Mississauga, Ont.) hopes to improve his finish from a year ago in the butterfly discipline.
Preliminary racing begins at 10 am with the first finals session beginning at 6 pm on Thursday, February 9. The last races of the championship are scheduled to begin at 6 pm Saturday evening. Each finals session will be webcast and is available at www.ssncanada.ca/games
Check back at oua.ca for updates from the OUA Swimming Championships and for complete results following the meet.
