AROUND OUA: Quad Meet

Varsity Blues sweep quad meet

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's and women's swimming teams defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks, Queen's Gaels and York Lions in quad-meet action on Saturday, November 19 at Varsity Pool. 
 
Toronto's men defeated Laurier 93-51, Queen's 92-46 and York 92-29, while the Blues women topped Laurier 87-42, Queen's 81-61 and York 87-20.
 
 "This meet allows our team to sharpen their skills in anticipation of next week's division championships, which pits the top five teams in the province against each other," said head coach Byron MacDonald.
"Most of the fall semester is about hard training and now is the time to hone in on racing."
 
Third-year swimmer Mitch Ferraro of Uxbridge, Ont., was Toronto's men's double winner. Ferraro won the 50 and 100 freestyle events.
 
"Mitch is a very valuable member of our team both in the water and outside the pool," said MacDonald. "His hard work this season is starting to show as he has never been this fast at this time of the year, almost breaking the 50-second barrier in his 100 free victory."
 
Solo veteran winners were Eli Wall in the 50 breaststroke, Matt Dans in the 800 freestyle and Hochan Ryu in the 100 breaststroke, with both Dans and Ryu winning races they don't usually swim.
 
Sophomore Gael Chaubet won the 100 butterfly handily, while third-year swimmers Michael Sinila (200 butterfly) and Kyle Haas (100 backstroke) also dominated their events.
 
Rookies Will Morley, Tyler McDermott and Ian MacKinnon won the 200 IM, 200 breaststroke and 400 freestyle, respectively.
 
The Blues saw two women win two races on the night.  2016 Olympic bronze medalist Kylie Masse won the 100 backstroke and butterfly races, while rookie standout Rachel Rodé took the top spot in the 50 freestyle and butterfly events.
 
"The power that Rachel shows on her starts and turns is nothing short of amazing," said MacDonald. "She will gain half a meter on everyone making the race virtually over."
 
Rookies Sophia Saroukian and Sophia Adey won the 400 and 800 freestyle races, respectively, while fellow first-year swimmer Lea Zila had an impressive swim to win the 100 breaststroke.
 
Olivia Sbaraglia, another first-year swimmer from Toronto, won the tightly contested 100 freestyle.
 
"Olivia was a standout swimmer when she was young but her career had stagnated a bit," said MacDonald. "She has found new life in our program and this is the Olivia that is a force in the sprints again. It's great to see her resurgence."
 
Sophomore Rachael Parsons continued her winning ways this season with another quick 50 breaststroke victory.
 
The Blues return to action next weekend (Nov. 26-27) as they head to Guelph for the 2016 Fairweather division championships.

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues