BLUES JUMP INTO LEAD AFTER DAY ONE OF OUA SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The women's 200 Metre Freestyle kicked off the finals session with Sasha Theron (U of T) swimming six seconds under the CIS standard (2:01.56) placing first, Carly Cermak (McMaster) second and Kate Plyley (U of T) third. Seven of the eight swimmers in the finals swam times below the CIS standard. The men's 200 metre Freestyle followed right after as Chester Scott (McMaster) finished first in a time of 1:51.61, Francesco Agueci (U of T) second and Ryan Atkinson (University of Western Ontario) third. Laurentian's Blair Smith placed fifth with a time of 1:55.74.
In the women's 50 metre Backstroke Alyssa Hubert (Guelph) was one of five swimmers under the CIS standard as she took first with a time of 30.37. Jane Wilkinson (McMaster) was second and Hilary Jackson (Laurier) was awarded the bronze. Laurentian's Kelly Cook won the B-final with a time of 32.61. In the men's 50 metre backstroke, Kurtis Miller and Brad Vanderkam of UWO placed first and second respectively while Oleg Chernuhkhin (Waterloo) was third.
The women's 100 metre Breaststroke brought forth another tandem of swimmers from the same university placing first and second as Katy Perry and Brittany Segeren of Queen's took the first two spots. Kimmi Labbett of UWO finished off the podium as she took third. In the men's 100 metre Breaststroke ,only the top three swimmers broke the CIS standard as Marco Monaco (Toronto) swam 1:04.26 placing first, Mark Mitchell (Brock) second and Johnathon Caguiat (U of T) third.
Swimming styles switched again as the meet moved to the women's 100 metre Butterfly. Brittney Scott and Jen Porenta continued the U of T dominance placing first and second. Kristy MacLennan (Laurier) rounded out the podium finishing third. Courtney Hicks of Laurentian swam well in a close final finishing in eighth. On the men's side, Ian MacLeod led the U of T sweep in this event placing first in 55.02, while Brad Vanderkam and Rob Taylor both of UWO took second and third respectively.
The women's 400 metre Individual Medley brought the first real distance event to the Friday finals. Marci Bryon (U of T) obliterated the CIS standard by over 10 seconds, finishing first in a time of 4:59.88. Carly Cermak (McMaster) won her second medal of the competition placing second and Brittney Scott (U of T) was third. Once again this was a very fast race with six of the eight swimmers posting times below the CIS standard. Laurentian's Ryan Smith (pictured) won the first medal of the competition for the Voyageurs Friday evening as he took home the gold in a blistering time of 4:29.92, well below the CIS standard. Monaco (U of T) was second and Mike Penney (Carleton) was 3rd.
The meet shifted to relay events as the women's 4x100 metre Medley Relay saw U of T win by over three seconds in a time of 4:20.10. Guelph placed second and UWO finished in a close third. Laurentian's A-team swam well to a an 11th place finish, with the B-team finishing in 15th. U of T continued to make their statement as the team to beat at this meet as they won the men's side in a time of 3:49.52. UWO placed second with Waterloo reaching the podium for the first time in third and Laurentian placing a distant 15th.
The final two events of the evening were the women's and men's 4x50 metre Freestyle Relay. On the women's side, U of T was first in a time of 1:47.33, McMaster second and Queen's third. The Lady Vees had a strong showing with the A-team finishing fifth and the B-team 14th. For the men, U of T out swam second place McMaster by an astonishing 4.16 seconds to claim gold. Third place went to UWO with Laurentian's A-team finishing in a respectable eighth out of 20 teams.
Final standings after day one of the OUA men's and women's swimming championships:
Men - Team Scores
1. Toronto 330 pts.
2. Western Ontario 279 pts.
3. Waterloo 145 pts.
4. Guelph 122 pts.
5. McMaster 119 pts.
6. Carleton 99 pts.
7. Ottawa 87 pts.
8. Laurentian 67 pts.
9. Queen's 59 pts.
10. Brock 37 pts.
11. Laurier 25 pts.
12. York 12 pts.
Women - Team Scores
1. Toronto 359 pts.
2. McMaster 208 pts.
3. Western Ontario 197 pts.
4. Queen's 176 pts.
5. Guelph 153.5 pts.
6. Laurentian 83 pts.
7. Brock 52 pts.
8. Ottawa 47 pts.
9. Carleton 45 pts.
10. Laurier 40 pts.
11. Waterloo 12 pts.
12. York 5 pts.
13. Trent 4.5 pts.
- LU -
(Source: David Vladars, Laurentian Sports Information.)
(Photo: Laurentian's Ryan Smith picked up a gold in the 400-m Individual Medley for the host Voyageurs.)