Press Release courtesy of Toronto Athletics
The University of Toronto swimming program is pleased to announce that Everett Smith, Ethan Fazekas and Connor Walker have signed letters of intent and committed to swim for the Varsity Blues beginning in the 2018-19 season.
Fazekas and Smith will swim the shorter distances, while Walker will be the Varsity Blue holding down the 200, 400 and 1500 freestyle events.
“All three of them will step in immediately to help the squad and I look forward to coaching them,” said Varsity Blues head coach Byron MacDonald.
Smith moved from his home in Sudbury, Ont., to live in Toronto this season so he could train with the Swim Ontario Academy at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre at U of T Scarborough Campus.
Since medaling at the Canadian junior championships last summer, Smith has also held the number one ranking in his age in the 50 & 100 freestyle & 50 backstroke.
“Everett has clearly committed to high performance training already,” said MacDonald. “He continues to improve and will make an immediate impact for the Blues in the fall.”
Fazekas comes from the ‘sprint hotbed’ of Windsor, where both clubs there are producing some of the top swimmers in the OUA & U SPORTS. Current Varsity Blues standouts Kylie Masse and Rachel Rodé both hail from the Windsor area.
“Ethan has a lot of pure speed so he will be a great addition to the Blues,” said MacDonald. “Sprints are a critical part of the varsity swim program and are a disproportionate amount of the events at our championships so attracting these two fine young sprinters will bolster our already strong team,” added MacDonald.
Walker hails from Markham, Ont., and picked up a silver-medal finish in the 1500m at the 2017 Canadian Eastern swimming championships last April.
“Connor is one of the top mid and distance freestylers in the province so he will fill an immediate need for the Blues as we were light in those events at the recent national championships,” said MacDonald.
Students who sign a letter of intent and/or commit to Varsity Blues intercollegiate teams will be eligible to play at the University of Toronto provided they are academically admissible and have applied through the normal process with the Ontario Universities Application Centre.
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