VARSITY BLUES PAIR DOMINATE IN THE POOL
"I didn't really like it at first," recalls the Varsity Blues star. "I always got nervous when I had to race.\"
Most of the nerves around Porenta these days come from those occupying the nearby lanes. She won an incredible four golds at last year's OUA Championships, placing first in the 200-metre freestyle, the 50-metre freestyle, the 400-metre freestyle and as anchor in the 400-metre medley. Porenta, who also won the 2005 CIS Sprinter's Cup, has developed into one of the premier swimmers in the nation and as the OUAs approach (at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Feb. 10-12), she's optimistic about the meet, albeit realistic. An inner ear and sinus infection have slowed her down in the 2005/06 season, forcing her to miss some valuable time in the pool. Porenta might be hard-pressed to reach last year's heights but she won't change the approach that's got her to where she is today.
"I always go into a meet with the same attitude - to race and just do the best I can," she says.
The formula has apparently worked, not just for Porenta but the entire Blues swim program. No school has dominated in the pool like Toronto, with the women having claimed the past five consecutive OUA Championships and the men winning four of the past five. And these aren't recent traditions. The women's team took 13 of 14 championships from the years 1977/78 through 1990/91, while the men are still recognized as the kings of the sport at the university level, winning every title from 1960/61 to 1991/92. That's a jaw-dropping 32 straight titles. Toronto's incomparable swim history is palpable as you enter the U of T pool, with the dozens of banners that line the ceiling providing constant reminders of the great teams and individuals who have competed for the storied institution. Both the men and women (ranked fourth and second respectively in the CIS Top 10s as of the beginning of the month) are looking to add more to the haul as they spend these last days leading up to the championships focusing on shaving valuable fractions of seconds off of their times.
"I'd say the team's looking quite good right now," says Ian MacLeod, one of the horses on the men's side. "We haven't lost a dual meet all year and everything's going as planned.
"With the OUAs and CIs coming up, this is the most important month of the year."
MacLeod, a fourth-year double science major from Mississauga, ON, is one of the key pieces on the men's team. The butterfly specialist and defending 100-metre butterfly OUA champion has seen a noticeable shift in attitude with his team since he first joined the program. Not that confidence is lacking in an environment that has produced so much success but the men's team took a big step after rebounding from a disheartening defeat a couple years back. MacLeod and his teammates have been better swimmers because of it.
"In my first year (2002/03), our team was really close to winning the OUA Championship," says MacLeod. "Then the last two years, we were able to win it. That turned things around here."
Both the men's and women's teams train together, and unlike most schools throughout the nation, there are two coaches. Byron MacDonald and Linda Kiefer head the impressive collection of talent. MacDonald has coached over 100 All-Canadians in his 27-year tenure at U of T and was a two-time gold medal winner himself at the Commonwealth Games. There is a sense of leadership surrounding the program and according to Porenta, the teams have developed a real closeness, even more so than in past seasons.
"We push each other every day," she says. "The history of the teams makes it exciting. The whole atmosphere is incredible. You walk in and see how many OUA and CIS championships the school has won and you just want to be a part of it."
MacLeod and Porenta are indeed a big part of the Toronto swimming tradition. They do differ in terms of what they think are the best and worst races to swim, however. For Porenta, she loves the 200-metre freestyle, a race that is as much mental as it is physical. MacLeod likes the 200-metre butterfly for the same reasons. But he'd rather avoid the 1,500-metre freestyle given the total exhaustion a swimmer can feel after finishing. Porenta thinks the 50-metre freestyle is the biggest challenge, because you have to be 100 per cent on or you're done.
As for who would win in a head-to-head between the two varsity Blues stars, Porenta tells it like it is.
"If I was swimming free and he's doing the fly," she says with a laugh, "our times might be similar."
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(Photo: Toronto's butterfly standout Ian Macleod grabs a quick breath in his favourite race.)
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