Swimmers travel to the nation's capital for OUA Championships
The defending CIS champion Toronto Varsity Blues men’s swimming team is going for a 12th consecutive conference title when the OUA Championships begin on Thursday, Feb. 5 in Ottawa.
The defending CIS champion Toronto Varsity Blues men's swimming team is going for a 12th consecutive conference title when the OUA Championships begin on Thursday, Feb. 5 in Ottawa.
The championship meet runs from Thursday to Sunday and features 12 schools from across the province competing in men's and women's events.
While there are plenty of schools with their eyes on the championship banner, the Varsity Blues aren't going to hand over the crown easily. No. 2-ranked Toronto is returning four individual champions to its men's team and won the OUA Stratten Division Championships in November.
Fourth-year backstroke specialist Matt Myers looks to defend his 100m and 200m backstroke titles and is going for a fourth consecutive title in the 200m event. Fellow veteran Chris Manning won the 50m freestyle at last year's championship, Edward Liu is the defending 100m butterfly champion, and David Riley sets to battle for a second consecutive 200m breaststroke gold medal. First-year standout Oliver Straszynski is also hoping to make an impact for his team. Straszynski won the 200m, 400m and 1500m freestyle events at the division championships in November.
The No. 10 McMaster Marauders are hoping to end an 11-year title drought this weekend and are led by OUA's breaststroke master, Konrad Bald. He is a three-time defending champion in both the 100m and 50m breaststroke, and currently holds the OUA record in the 50m. Eric Anderson and Mohamed Eldah will also be factors for the Marauders after the duo combined for eight medals at the division championships.
The Western Mustangs hosted the Stratten Division Championships and claimed a men's silver in their home pool and are hoping to win their first conference championship since the 1960 season. Robert Wise is the defending champion in both the 50m backstroke and 200m freestyle, and took home silver at the 200m event at divisionals.
The host of the tournament, the Ottawa Gee-Gees, also find themselves in the CIS Top 10, ranked sixth in the country, and would love nothing more to win their first ever conference title in their home pool. Connor Michie won gold at the Ontario Cup in 200m breaststroke, while Montana Champagne took home two gold in the 400m and 200m individual medley.
At the Tihanyi Division Championships, the Waterloo Warriors came away with gold on the men's side. Graeme Kemp won all four of his events at the meet, while his teammate Jon Ramkissoon swept the breaststroke events. The Warriors also won the 4x50m medley relay and the 4x100m freestyle relay.
Also turning in strong showings at the Tihanyi Division Championships were the Laurentian Voyageurs. Laurentian dominated in the 200m freestyle relay, and had two athletes win individual gold: Matthew Schouten in the 50m freestyle and David Ahong in the 1500m freestyle.
The Laurier Golden Hawks swept the 100m butterfly at the division championships, and are led by Dean Bennett who won five medals at the event. Bennett took home individual gold in the 50m and 100m backstroke events and added two silvers in the 100m butterfly and 50m freestyle.
Rounding out the competition on the men's side are the Brock Badgers, Carleton Ravens, York Lions, Guelph Gryphons, and Queen's Gaels.
Brock placed fifth at the division championships, narrowly missing the podium with several fourth-place finishes, including three individual fourth place finishes by Curtis Li. The Carleton Ravens finished seventh at divisionals with David Mackie leading the way.
Evan Van Moerkerke is Guelph's top swimmer and finished first in the 100m freestyle at the Ontario Cup.
Queen's finished 10th at the last year's OUA Championships while York came in one spot behind at 11th.
On the women's side, the No. 3 Toronto Varsity Blues are also looking to retain the OUA championship banner after ending a five-year title drought last season.
The team is well-suited for a repeat, boasting two swimmers aiming for their fourth-consecutive individual gold medals. Vanessa Treasure, OUA Swimmer of the Year in 2012 and 2014, is going for a fourth straight gold in both the 400m individual medley and the 200m breaststroke. Bridget Coley aims for the four-peat in the 800m freestyle and a three-peat in the 400m freestyle, while Paige Schultz defends gold medals in the 50m, 100m, and 200m freestyle races. As a team, Toronto has already won gold at the Stratten Division Championships this season.
The No. 6 Western Mustangs five-year run as OUA champions ended last season and the team is hoping to return the favour to Toronto this year. Remaining from the last championship team is Emma Sproule. She won gold in the 200m freestyle in 2013 and followed it with a gold in the 200m backstroke in 2014, setting a new OUA record in the process. First-year standout Sophie Cieplucha won gold and set a Mustang record at the division championships in the 100m breaststroke, and the Mustangs will also rely heavily on Jennifer McNaughton and Paulina Bond, who also reached the top of the podium at division championships.
Second-year McMaster Marauders swimmer Brittany Pask won the team's only gold medal at the division championships in the 50m backstroke, and will need a strong performance this weekend for the No. 10 Marauders to have a chance at a medal. The team captured bronze at last year's OUA championships and at this season's division championships. Kieran Liew and Emma Mittermaier are two top swimmers McMaster is relying heavily on.
The Ottawa Gee-Gees were held off the championship podium last year, but the No. 9 team in the country is poised for improvement at home this time around. Eryn Weldon finished first in the 200m breaststroke at the division championships, and won the OUA gold in the 200m individual medley in 2013. Audrey Prayal-Brown, a veteran transfer from Dalhousie, won silver in the 50m breaststroke at the division championships.
The Laurentian Voyageurs led the way at the Tihanyi Division Championships this year. Along with winning the 200m freestyle relay, several Voyageurs had individual success. Riley Conrad won gold in the 400m individual medley, Madeline Stever won the 100m breaststroke, and Lea Paulus won the 800m freestyle.
Finishing behind the Voyageurs at the division championships was the Waterloo Warriors. The Warriors won gold in the 200m medley relay and the 400m freestyle relay, and also saw several strong individual performances. Ola Jozwiak dominated the freestyle swim, winning the 100m, 200m, and 400m events. Her teammate, Josie Andres, also found the top of the podium, winning three events including the 50m freestyle.
The Guelph Gryphons finished fourth last year at the OUA Championships, but have lost arguably their best swimmer, Alisha Harricharan, from that squad. Several Gryphons turned in strong showings at the Guelph Invitational, including Kylie Weber who won the 100m butterfly. Samantha Young and Allanah Brisebois will also need to perform well for the Gryphons to have a shot at the podium.
Both the Laurier Golden Hawks and Brock Badgers have several swimmers capable of medalling this weekend.
From Laurier, Katie Vanderbeek swept the backstroke events at the Tihanyi Division Championships, winning three gold medals and went home with three more medals in team relay events.
Rachel Nogard won a gold in the 200m butterfly and two silver medals for Brock at the division championships. As a team, the Badgers came in fifth at the event, and also saw Laura Perry win silver in the 100m backstroke.
Queen's and York finished 10th and 11th, respectively, at last year's OUA Championships and will be underdogs once again. The Carleton Ravens did not participate in the 2014 championships, but round out the competition in 2015.
The OUA Championships begin on Thursday, Feb. 5 with preliminary heats starting at 10 a.m. and the first finals of the tournament beginning at 6 p.m. The tournament concludes on Saturday, Feb. 7 with the final events taking place and the announcement of OUA All-Stars and major award winners. All tournament events will be held the University of Ottawa Pool in Montpetit Hall.
