Last night the Western Mustangs and McMaster Marauders stepped it up to try and catch the UofT teams at the short course meters OUA Championships in St. Catharines, Ont. The UofT men ended up winning the meet with 959 points to McMasters 746. Western was third behind McMaster with 659. The Western women on the other hand were able to finish second in the overall rankings with 692 points; the University of Toronto women were first with 823. McMaster was third picking up 568 total points.
Coming into day three, the Varsity Blues had won every single relay which included the 200 free, 800 free, and 400 medley relays. The Varsity Blues however couldn’t keep their streak going, falling to both the Marauders and Mustangs on the first event of day 3, the 200m medley relay. The McMaster team threw down a 1:55.23 to take the win by almost three full seconds. The Marauder team was just seven one-hundredths shy of Western’s OUA record from 2010. The Mustangs finished behind McMaster in 1:58.03 followed by the Varsity Blues in 1:58.27.
In what could be considered one of the most exciting races of the meet, the McMaster men and the Varsity Blues men finished in a dead-heat for gold in the 200m medley relay. Behind at the 150m mark, UofT anchor Steven Hibbard split a 22.30 to catch the McMaster team, both finishing in 1:40.31. Both teams broke the previous OUA record, meaning that they’ll share it for a full year.
In the 200m freestyle Paige Schultz from the University of Toronto picked up her fifth gold of the meet. Schultz took down Emma Sproule who beat her earlier in the 200m backstroke. Schultz’ time of 2:00.18 was just shy of the OUA record; Sproule was not far behind in 2:00.42.
In the men’s 200m freestyle Robert Wise of the Western Mustangs swam an impressive 1:49.96 to grab the gold. Wise is currently ranked third overall in Canadian University rankings in the event with a 1:47.73 that he swam at the Canada Cup in November. Wise also won the 50m back in 25.76.
The McMaster women took a sweep of the podium in the 50m breaststroke taking the top three spots in the 50m breaststroke. Alexandra Vanommen, winner of the 100m breaststroke, took the win in 32.88.
Konrad Bald secured the fourth win of the night for the Marauders with a 27.88 finish in the 50m breaststroke. Bald won the 100m breaststroke on day two. National team member and UofT swimmer Chris Manning finished behind Bald in 28.18. Both were under Bald’s previous OUA record of 28.40.
Kieran Liew helped the McMaster domination continue on day three with her victory in the 50m backstroke. Her time of 29.47 gave her the win over a field that contained six freshman.
Alisha Harricharan won her third gold medal of the meet last night with a 59.53 in the 100m fly. The University of Guelph swimmer narrowly beat Western Mustang Paulina Bond who added another silver to her collection with a 59.90.
In the men’s 100m fly Zack Chetrat grabbed another gold for the University of Toronto with a swift 53.35. The World Championship team member led start to finish, having not only the fastest first 50m, but the fastest last 50m too.
Vanessa Treasure amazingly earned herself her fifth gold of the meet with a huge win in the 400m IM. Treasure won in 4:42.95. Treasure was close to the mark set by one of Canada’s best medley swimmers of all time, Joanne Malar, that she set way back in 1995.
In the last individual event of the meet Ben Stubbs from McMaster University picked up McMaster’s sixth gold of the night en route to a win i the 400m IM. Stubbs won in 4:21.71 in start-to-finish fashion.
The Western Mustangs grabbed the gold in the final women’s event in the meet, taking down the Marauders in the 400m freestyle relay. The team which contained medallists Emma Sproule and Paulina Bond won the event in 3:45.60. The McMaster team was second, the University of Toronto team finished way back in fifth. With the win, the Mustangs broke their own OUA record that was set in 2012.
The Mustang men won their 400m freestyle relay, giving Robert Wise his third gold of the night. Anchor Louis Wong held off Varsity Blue Matt Dans in the final 50m of the race to secure the win. The Mustangs won in 3:22.02 followed by the Varsity Blues in 3:22.16.
For full meet results click here.
