Banner Season: McMurray, Ginzburg steal the show on Day 2 of championship swims

St. Catharines, Ont. (via Brock Badgers) - Ainsley McMurray of the Toronto Varsity Blues and Eric Ginzburg of the York Lions didn't just make waves; they surfed the podium, clinching multiple gold medals on Day 2 of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Swimming Championships at Brock University on Saturday, Feb. 17.

McMurray and Ginzburg added to their growing collection of medals with a total of four and three golds, respectively.

On the leaderboard, the Toronto women’s team leads the pack with 812 points with Western (441) and McMaster (317) in their wake; the Toronto men’s team has accumulated a total of 657 points above Western (454) and McMaster (357).

McMurray bolstered Toronto’s commanding lead by winning both the women’s 50-metre fly (27 seconds and 10 milliseconds) and the women’s 50-metre freestyle (24 seconds and 72 milliseconds). Notably, McMurray set a new provincial record in the 50m freestyle, surpassing the previous record held by former Varsity Blue and current Canadian Olympian Kylie Masse, who set the mark at 24.77 in 2018.

This is her third consecutive season of claiming victory in these events.

Meanwhile, Ginzburg continued to add to his gold count for York. Following his first-place finish in the 100m butterfly the previous night, Ginzburg secured another victory in the 50m fly (24.09) before a gold-medal finish in the 50m freestyle. He touched the wall at 22.43 seconds.

Shona Branton continues to lead the Western Mustangs with record-breaking performances.

She posted a time of 2:26.56 to set a new standard in the women’s 200m breaststroke. The Port Lambton, Ont product bested a record of 2:27.50 held previously held by Laurier’s Jasmine Raines in 2018.

In another record-breaking performance, Andrew Herman of the Varsity Blues earned his second gold medal of the weekend. Herman set a new record in the men’s 100m backstroke, which stood for 23 years, with a time of 53.65. The previous mark (53.69) was set by Sean Sepulis of the University of Guelph in 2001.

The final day of the provincial championships kicks off with preliminaries at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 18. The finals begin at a new time of 4 p.m. with the banner and medal presentations to follow the last race. The action can be livestreamed on OUA.tv.

WOMEN’S RESULTS:  

The Toronto women excelled on Saturday with six gold medal victories across seven events.

Toronto’s Nina Mollin won a provincial gold medal in the women’s 200m butterfly for a second consecutive year, finishing with a time of 2:14.66. Mahaylia Datars earned another first-place finish for the Blues with a time of 4:14.21 in the 400m freestyle.

In the women’s 100m backstroke, the Varsity Blues swept the podium as Katie Schroeder (1:00.24), Raili Kary (1:00.54) and Haley Klenk (1:01.06) finished in the top three.

Klenk, Datars, Teagan McKenzie and Anna Hein teamed up to win the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay with a first-place time of 8:16.31.

The Western Mustangs earned four medals while McMaster and Waterloo each earned a medal.

Tatum O’Connor of the Brock Badgers got the home fans excited with a bronze-medal performance in the women’s 50m butterfly (27.69). 

MEN'S RESULTS:

The men’s side featured a lot of parity with five teams earning gold medals on Day 2.

York and Toronto each won a pair of golds as McMaster, Waterloo and Western earned first-place finishes.

McMaster’s Cameron Johnsen earned a OUA gold medal in the men’s 200m breaststroke for a second season in a row. Kevin Zhang of Waterloo successfully hit the wall in 1:58.90 to win the men’s 200m butterfly.

To close out Day 2, the team of Brendan Oswald, Max Tambling, Jacob Gallant and Quinn Matteis earned the second gold medal of the night for the Blues with a time of 7:30.84.

The Blues collected a total of nine medals. Western finished second in the medal count with four. Waterloo scooped up three medals while York and McMaster each claimed two.

Carleton University earned its first medal of the tournament after Finn Tuck took bronze in the 100m backstroke (55.10).
 
DAY 2 TEAM STANDINGS

Women's:
Toronto – 812
Western – 441
McMaster – 317
Waterloo – 292
Guelph – 210
Brock – 138
Laurier – 91
Queen’s – 90
York – 54
Carleton – 32

Men's:
Toronto – 657
Western – 454
McMaster – 357
Waterloo – 323.5
Laurier – 170
Guelph – 132.5
York – 113
Brock – 112
Carleton – 95
Queen’s – 67

DAY 2 INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS (Saturday)

Women 400m Free
1. Mahaylia Datars, Toronto, 4:14.21
2. Danielle Treasure, Western, 4:16.13
3. Teagan McKenzie, Toronto, 4:18.98
 
Men 400 Free
1. Kieran Stone, Western, 3:53.95
2. Isaac Allen, Western, 3:55.55
3. Quinn Matteis, Toronto, 3:58.12

Women 50m Fly
1. Ainsley McMurray, Toronto, 27.10
2. Hannah Gallagher, Waterloo, 27.58
3. Tatum O’Connor, Brock, 27.69
 
Men 50 Fly
1. Eric Ginzburg, York, 24.09
2. Lukas Wormald, Waterloo, 24.24
3. Ziyad Salouse, Western, 24.64
 
Women 200m Breast
1. Shona Branton, Western, 2:26.56 OUA RECORD
2. Sydney Winokur, Toronto, 2:32.62
3. Tina Guan, Toronto, 2:32.66

Men 200m Breast
1. Cameron Johnsen, McMaster, 2:12.05
2. Jacob Gallant, Toronto, 2:13.33
3. Graeme Aylward, Toronto, 2:13.88

Women 100m Back
1. Katie Schroeder, Toronto, 1:00.24
2. Raili Kary, Toronto, 1:00.54
3. Haley Klenk, Toronto, 1:01.06
 
Men 100m Back
1. Andrew Herman, Toronto, 53.65 OUA RECORD
2. Carter Buck, Toronto, 54.39
3. Finn Tuck, Carleton, 55.10

Women 200m Fly
1. Nina Mollin, Toronto, 2:14.66
2. Katie Stanojlovic, Toronto, 2:19.41
3. Heidi Bartoch, Western, 2:19.63
 
Men 200m Fly
1.Kevin Zhang, Waterloo, 1:58.90
2. Benjamin Loewen, Toronto, 1:58.95
3. Bill Dongfang, Toronto, 1:59.60

Women 50m Free
1. Ainsley McMurray, Toronto, 24.72 OUA RECORD
2. Lily Chubaty, Toronto, 25.48
3. Gemma Norman, Toronto, 25.90

Men 50m Free
1. Eric Ginzburg, York, 22.43
2. Liam Weaver, Toronto, 22.62
3. Allen Zheng, Waterloo, 22.71
 
Women 800m Free Relay
1. Toronto, 8:16.31
(Hayley Klenk, Mahaylia Datars, Teagan McKenzie, Anna Hein)
2. Western, 8:25.69
(Danielle Treasure, Robin Vadeika, Hannah Estabrooks, Heidi Bartoch)
3. McMaster, 8:29.59
(Erin Anderson, Andie Lloyd, Lara Hodges, Naeva Scott Bouris)

Men 800m Free Relay
1. Toronto, 7:30.84
(Brendan Oswald, Max Tambling, Jacob Gallant, Quinn Matteis)
2. Western, 7:32.49
(Isaac Allen, Hayden Bartoch, Brent Davison, Kieran Stone)
3. McMaster, 7:33.78
(Preston McMann, Sam Chisholm, Max Angove, Kevork Baghdassarian)