Voyageurs open up strong against Gee-Gees

On Saturday & Sunday this past weekend, fans crowded the stands of the Jeno Tihanyi Olympic Gold Pool to watch the Laurentian Voyageurs take on the Ottawa Gee-Gees and Sault Surge in some pre-OUA swimming competition.

The weekend was action-packed with many finals being decided by mere seconds. Highlights from Saturday's races include a first place finish for the men's 800m freestyle relay which consisted of Matthew Schouten, Christopher Eastick, David Ahong and Samule Boily-Dufour. Eastick carried over his winning ways in the 400m freestyle as he took home a first place finish in a time of 4:14.11. Schouten finished his night with two second place finishes in the 100m freestyle and 50m butterfly, while Ahong finished second in the 200m butterfly. Rounding out the men's highlights with another first place finish, was Andrew Hrycusko in the 50m breaststroke (31.14 seconds).

The women's team was equally as impressive on Saturday as they enjoyed many top three finishes including a third place finish in the 800m freestyle relay to start the night. The relay squad included Darcie Stanton, Riley Konrad, Francesca Zammit-Maempel and Léa Paulus. On the women's individual side, Konrad finished second in the 200m individual medley and then followed that up with a third place finish in the 200m butterfly. Paulus (200m butterfly), Alex Langlois (100m backstroke), Cassandra Drescher (100m freestyle) and Zammit-Maempel (50m butterfly) also finished second in their respective races.

Sunday was another strong day for the Voyageurs as they continued their success in the pool on both the men's and women's sides. The men's 200m medley relay team started the day off with a second place finish in a time of 1:48.96 and were led by Zach Shalovsky, Hrycusko, Schouten and Ahong. Schouten followed that up with a first place finish in the 50m backstroke and a second place finish in the 50m freestyle. Christopher Eastick finished his weekend with another first place finish in the 200m freestyle (1:59.14). Rounding out the day for the Voyageurs was the 200m freestyle relay which took home another first place finish in a time of 1:35.91 (Schouten, Shalovsky, Ahong and Boily-Dufour).

On the women's side, Konrad (400m individual medley), Emma Fender (50m backstroke) and Julie Langlois (50m freestyle) finished second in their respective races while the 200m freestyle relay finished the weekend on a high note taking home first place in a time of 1:51.26. Drescher, Zammit-Maempel, Julie Langlois and Madeline Stever comprised the winning relay.

The Voyageurs are back in action this weekend as they head to Ottawa for another invitational with the Gee-Gees, Carleton Ravens, Queen's Gaels and Guelph Gryphons. Action is set to begin on Friday.

Source: Laurentian Voyageurs