TORONTO, ON -- With 23 swimmers, Carleton put up the largest team for an OUA championship in a decade.
Led by veteran athletes like Dana Dusevic (Ottawa, ON), Erin McRae (Ottawa, ON) and Courtney Buchanan (Belleville, ON) on the women's side, they made huge personal improvements - swimming close to 90 per cent lifetime best performances.
McRae dropped nearly nine seconds in her 400-m freestyle to go from 5:16.24 to 5:06.86. McRae also swam lifetime bests in the 100-m and 200-m freestyle events.
Dusevic showed real strength returning to the team this year and finishing with lifetime bests in all her events.
On the men's side, Moustafa Kamel (Alexandria, Egypt) dropped nearly three seconds in the 100-m freestyle to go from 55.73 to 53.13 in the first leg of the mens 4 x 100-m freestyle relay.
He also dropped 10 seconds in the 400-m freestyle to go from 4:23.38 to 4:14.86. His 200-m freestyle was one of the strongest races of the weekend, finishing in 1:58.29 and 28th place.
Other highlights included David Thibodeau's (Frederiction, NB) 100-m breastroke with a time of 1:07.60 and the 50-m breastroke in 31.04 - both lifetime best performances for the 21-year-old master of political management student.
Both the men's and women's relays reflected the continued growth of the team, which has grown from just six swimmers two seasons ago to 28 for the 2016-17 season.
Ravens Scoring Results at 2017 OUA Swimming Championships:
Women:10th (14 points) 4 x 100 medley relay 4:56.80: Jamie Robertson, Courtney Buchanan, Dana Dusevic, Agatha Bartoszewicz11th (12 points) 4 x 50 free relay 2:18.91: Agatha Bartoszewicz, Danielle Yang, Kiera Hughes, Parya Nasr11th (12 points) 4 x 200 free relay 10:53.70: Erin McRae, Jenna May Clune, Allison Howes, Aura Tonietto11th (12 points) 4 x 50 medley relay 2:12.42: Jamie Robertson, Courtney Buchanan, Dana Dusevic, Erin McRae12th (10 points) 4 x 100 free relay 4:56.34: Jenna May Clune, Danielle Yang, Kayla Bose, Aura Tonietto
Men:9th (18 points) 4 x 100 medley relay 4:12.37: Mohamed Galal, David Thibodeau, Mohamed Aly, Moustafa Kamel10th (14 points) 4 x 200 free relay 8:58.05: Tristan Ogilvie, Miguel Chavez, Hunter Dunlop, David Thibodeau12th (10 points) 4 x 50 free relay 1:45.91: Tristan Ogilvie, Juna Pablo Contreras, Poya Fallahdoust, David Mackie12th (10 points) 4 x 50 medley relay 1:54.54: Mohamed Galal, David Thibodeau, Hunter Dunlop, Mohamed Aly12th (10 points) 4 x 100 free relay 3:55.61: Moustafa Kamel, Miguel Chavez, Juan Pablo Contreras, Poya Fallahdoust
Top Individual Placings:
Women:29th Courtney Buchanan 50 breast: 37.0032nd Kayla Bose 50 breast: 45.5932nd Jenna May Clune 200IM: 3:12.7633rd Kayla Bose 100 breast: 1:40.3235th Dana Dusevic 50 fly: 31.08
Men:19th David Mackie 1500 free: 17:18.0021st Mohamed Aly 50 back: 28.7122nd Mohamed Aly 50 breast: 31.0323rd David Thibodeau 50 breast: 31.0423rd David Thibodeau 100 breast: 1:07.6025th Moustafa Kamel 400 free: 4:14.86
Times Making Carleton’s All-Time Top 20 List:
Women:7th (tie) Courtney Buchanan 50 breast: 37.00 (and relay split 36.40)8th Dana Dusevic 50 free: 28.6610th Dana Dusevic 100 free: 1:03.3112th Dana Dusevic 50 fly: 31.08 (and relay split 30.50)14th Courtney Buchanan 100 free: 1:03.5620th (tie) Dana Dusevic 100 fly: 1:12.63 (and relay split 1:11.86)
Men:5th Moustafa Kamel 400 free: 4:14.866th David Thibodeau 50 breast: 31.04 (and relay split 30.84)8th Moustafa Kamel 100 free: 53.138th Moustafa Kamel 200 free: 1:58.298th David Thibodeau 100 breast: 1:07.6017th David Mackie 200 free: 2:01.0120th David Thibodeau 200 breast: 2:37.5120th (tie) David Mackie 100 fly: 1:02.46
PHOTOS BY MARTIN BAZYL: