Ravens swimmer Finn Tuck (Port Perry, Ont.) has won the OUA Bronze Medal in the 100m Backstroke at the 2022 OUA Swimming Championships at the University of Toronto. A second-year swimmer and Aerospace Engineering student, Tuck swam a Ravens record 56.39.
BLUES MAINTAIN SUCCESSFUL START ON DAY 2 AT 2022 OUA SWIM CHAMPIONSHIPS
Another strong day in the pool helped both the Toronto Varsity Blues women's and men's swimming teams widen their leads Friday (Mar. 11) at Varsity Pool during Day 2 of the 2022 OUA Swimming Championships.
WOMEN'S RECAP: Entering the second day of competition with a solid lead, the Varsity Blues built it up further winning six of the seven gold medals up for grabs in the third session.
Helping extend the Toronto advantage, Varsity Blues third-year swimmer Ainsley McMurray won double gold on Friday. The Montreal, Que., native not only finished first in the 50m butterfly (27.65), but she also touched the wall first in the 50m freestryle with a time of 25.58.
McMurray was not the only swimmer from the session to find the top of the podium twice. U of T's Claire Howard book-ended the session with gold medal performances. Beginning the day, Howard finished first in the 400m freestyle, before helping the Varsity Blues 800 freestyle relay team also win gold in the final race of the session.
Also swimming to gold medals for Toronto, both Madeline Spencer and Raili Kary narrowly edged out their own teammates in their respective races. For Spencer, a first-year life science major, her time of 2:30.54 just beat out Tina Guan's time of 2:30.56 in the 200m breastroke. Meanwhile, Kary's performance of 58.54 in the 100m backstroke put her just ahead of Aleksa Gold's time of 58.97.
Preventing Toronto from securing seven gold medals in seven events, Guelph Gryphons second-year swimmer, Abigail McDonald claimed the top of the podium in the 200m butterfly. With a time of 2:19.03, the Sudbury, Ont., native was able to outrace Toronto's Kate Rendall who won silver.
MEN'S RECAP: Looking to keep up the pace that the Varsity Blues women's team set earlier in the day, the U of T men's team went on to claim five of a possible seven gold medals Friday evening. Ironically, it was the very first race and the last race of the session, in which Toronto was kept off the top of the podium. Instead, in both events, it was the Western Mustangs claiming gold.
To begin Session Four, it was Western's Sebastian Paulins securing gold in the 400m freestyle. Then in the last race of the evening, Paulins would taste gold again, this time with his teammates Kieran Stone, Hayden Bartoch and Ethan Placek, when they won the 800m freestyle relay.
In the five events between Western's two golds, it was the Varsity Blues controlling the pool.
Winning an individual gold medal for a second straight day, Toronto's Dillon Fernando (50m fly), Jacob Gallant (200m breast) and Carter Buck (100m back) all continued to make a big impact for the Varsity Blues team.
Rounding out the day's races, Michael Sava (1:59.34) was victorious in the 200m butterfly, while Ethan Fazekas' time of 22.77 won him the 50m freestyle.
Meanwhile, Varsity Blues swimmer, Matthew Cabraja continued to break records. Swimming to a time of 29.27, Cabraja set a new Canadian Paralympic S11 50m butterfly record. Then in the S11 freestyle, he set a new Canadian Paralympic record with a time of 27.79.
The championships will wrap up tomorrow (Mar. 12) with Day 3. Session five is scheduled for 10:30 a.m., and session six is set to begin at 3 p.m.
DAY 2 TEAM STANDINGS
Men's: Toronto – 714 Waterloo – 423.5 Western – 407 McMaster – 229.5 Carleton – 183.5 Guelph – 161 Brock – 126 Queen's – 103 Laurier – 80.5 York – 3
Women's: Toronto – 793.5 Western – 436.5 McMaster – 375 Guelph – 301.5 Waterloo – 152.5 Carleton – 118 Queen's – 112 Brock – 71 Laurier– 56 York – 14
DAY 2 INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS (Friday)
Women 400m Free 1. Claire Howard, Toronto, 4:15.32 2. Anna Hein, Toronto, 4:15.89 3. Kate Rendall, Toronto, 4:19.34
Women 50m Fly 1. Ainsley McMurray, Toronto, 27.65 2. Samiha Mohsen, Toronto, 27.79 3. Sarah Little, McMaster, 27.89
Women 200m Breast 1. Madeline Spencer, Toronto, 2:30.54 2. Tina Guan, Toronto, 2:30.56 3. Ella Rennie, Western, 2:30.76
Women 100m Back 1. Raili Kary, Toronto, 58.54 2. Aleksa Gold, Toronto, 58.97 3. Haley Klenk, Toronto, 1:01.37 3. Eloise Ladyman, Waterloo, 1:01.37
Women 200m Fly 1. Abigail McDonald, Guelph, 2:19.03 2. Kate Rendall, Toronto, 2:19.77 3. Claire Macleod, Western, 2:20.85
Women 50 Free 1. Ainsley McMurray, Toronto, 25.58 2. Lily Chubaty, Toronto, 25.61 3. Samiha Mohsen, Toronto, 25.87
Women 800 Free Relay 1. Toronto, 8:20.32 (Claire Howard, Kate Rendall, Mahaylia Datars, Anna Hein) 2. Western, 8:29.95 (Kennedy Scott, Emiko Osborne, Claire Macleod, Ella Rennie) 3. McMaster, 8:32.27 (Maeve Bailey, Andie Lloyd, Emma Schlyter, Erin Anderson)
Men 400 Free 1. Sebastian Paulins, Western, 3:49.38 2. Bernard Godolphin, Toronto, 3:51.23 3. Kieran Stone, Western, 3:54.54
Men 50 Fly 1. Dillon Fernando, Toronto, 24.26 2. Lukas Wormald, Waterloo, 24.66 3. Anthony Gunn, Brock, 25.11
Men 200m Breast 1. Jacob Gallant, Toronto, 2:10.43 2. Graeme Aylward, Toronto, 2:12.09 3. Gabe Mastromatteo, Toronto, 2:12.25
Men 100m Back 1. Carter Buck, Toronto, 54.54 2. David Hickey, Toronto, 55.58 3. Finn Tuck, Carleton, 56.39
Men 200m Fly 1. Michael Sava, Toronto, 1:59.34 2. Sebastian Paulins, Western, 1:59.74 3. Brendan Oswald, Toronto, 2:00.94
Men 50 Free 1. Ethan Fazekas, Toronto, 22.77 2. Kent Goni Avila, Laurier, 22.89 2. Liam Weaver, Toronto, 22.89
Men 800 Free Relay 1. Western 7:22.09 (Kieran Stone, Hayden Bartoch, Ethan Placek, Sebastian Paulins) 2. Toronto 7:24.66 (Max Tambling, Jacob Gallant, Maksym Klakov, Bernard Godolphin) 3. Waterloo 7:41.69 (Samuel Pei, Josh Bird, Raymond Duong, Aidan Iapicco)
