February 8, 2012
OUA MEN'S SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
HAMILTON, Ont. – Swimmers from all across Ontario gather in Sudbury as Laurentian University is set to host the 2011-2012 OUA Swimming Championship beginning February 9 at the Dr. Jeno Tihanyi Olympic Gold Pool. Racing will continue until Saturday, February 11 when the event will culminate with the team trophy and banner presentations.
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues cling to an eight year title reign and look poised to stretch that streak to nine years. The Blues won last year’s championship by more than 140 points so the rest of the field is looking to close that gap and challenge for gold.
So far this season Toronto has qualified 11 men for the CIS championships later in February and production has come from veterans and rookies alike. The Blues return several members of their relay squads from last year who are also excelling individually this year. Curtis Samuel (Oakville, Ont.), Luke Hall (Swaziland, Africa), and Jeremie Holdom (Toronto) have all won medals throughout the season. Mike Smerek (St. Catharines, Ont.) returns to defend his 50m fly title from a year ago and rookies Graham Hawes (Scarborough, Ont.) and Brian Lee (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) have not looked out of place. Hawes swept the backstroke events at the Tihanyi Championships and owns the fastest 50m time in Canada, while Lee won the 50m breaststroke and 100m freestyle at Tihanyi. Heading into the championships as the No. 1 ranked team in the country, look for the Blues to claim their ninth straight title.
There are four teams that will be likely to challenge for the remaining podium positions – McMaster, Guelph, Western, and Ottawa – and all have been mentioned in the national rankings at one point this season. The McMaster Marauders return three quarters of the record breaking 400m freestyle relay team from a year ago, including Cameron Bailey (Hamilton, Ont.), Matthew Vogelzang (Waterford, Ont.), and Michael McDonald (Kingston, Ont.). Each of these swimmers have already struck gold in individual events this year and will be the driving force, along with Ben Stubbs (Markham, Ont.), for the No. 9 ranked Marauders.
The Guelph Gryphons look set to improve upon their fifth place finish at the OUA championships last year. Starting the year ranked sixth in national polls, the Gryphons still maintain a national ranking at No. 10 heading into this weekend. Leading the way is captain Wil Wright (Mississauga, Ont.) who is coming off a strong quad meet where he won four events, including the 100m freestyle, the event which Wright is looking for his second consecutive OUA gold medal. Joining Wright are all the members of last year’s gold medal winning 200m and 400m medley relay teams consisting of Ben Roberts (Kingston, Ont.), Matthew Stephenson (Brantford, Ont.), David Nowicki (Etobicoke, Ont.), and Troy Baxter (Ottawa). Each of these swimmers have already punched their ticket to the national meet in Montreal but will be heavily leaned upon for contributions to Guelph’s point total.
This year’s Western Mustangs squad is led by Robert Wise (Dorchester, Ont.) and David Hatch (North York, Ont.), both all-stars a year ago and both finding success in the freestyle events this year. Look for Wise to challenge in the distance events after capturing gold in the 400m and 1500m freestyle events at the Stratten Championship and posting a top five time in the nation in the 1500m. Western will also challenge in the butterfly with Parker Garrod (London, Ont.) and Mark Loyzer (Hamilton, Ont.). The Mustangs as a team were impressive at the Stratten Championship but this year’s younger squad will be in tough against the rest of the OUA teams.
The Ottawa Gee-Gees missed the podium by one spot last year and are hoping to change that this time around. Adam Best (Ottawa) leads the men’s squad once more after earning three individual and two relay medals at last year’s championship. Best placed in all backstroke events a year ago and enters this year’s meet having won the 100m at the Ontario Cup event. Stefan Ruksys (Kingston, Ont.) and Bernard Joosten (Ottawa) have had solid seasons in various events and will be important factors to the success of the Gee-Gees.
Wes Greig (Arnprior, Ont.) leads the Waterloo Warriors team, boasting the top Ontario time in the 200m breaststroke. He has already qualified for the CIS championships but his veteran experience will help carry the Warriors. Graeme Kemp (Waterloo, Ont.) has seen marked improvements over the course of the year and recently set a new school record in the 400m individual medley at a quad meet. The Warriors had several top three finishes at the Stratten Championships which they hope will transfer over to this weekend’s meet.
The Laurentian Voyageurs eight man squad are led by Matthew Huetl (Aurora, Ont.) and Daniel Juhasz (Brampton, Ont.). Huetl, a sophomore, has led the Vees in the freestyle and butterfly events while senior Juhasz is strong in the backstroke and breaststroke disciplines.
The York Lions are looking for a repeat of 100+ points at this year’s championship and will be led this year by rookie breaststroke specialist Phil Bogdanowicz (Ottawa) and Brett D’Souza (Toronto) in the butterfly.
Other teams competing at this year’s championship include the Brock Badgers who will be leaning on Brett Montgomery (North Bay, Ont.) for points in his first championship. The rookie has led the Badgers in the freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly all season. Laurier’s Andrew Warr (Baden, Ont.) had two top ten finishes at the Tihanyi Championships and will be looking to tally some points in the butterfly events. Queen’s distance swimmer Tanner Cassidy (Whitehorse, Yukon) looks to showcase his talents in the 1500m freestyle event. Adrian Forsythe (Fallbrook, Ont.) will lead the small, young contingent from Trent in both the freestyle and backstroke. Carleton’s Andrew Vo (Mississauga, Ont.) hopes to improve his finish from a year ago in the butterfly discipline.
Preliminary racing begins at 10 am with the first finals session beginning at 6 pm on Thursday, February 9. The last races of the championship are scheduled to begin at 6 pm Saturday evening. Each finals session will be webcast and is available at www.ssncanada.ca/games
Check back at oua.ca for updates from the OUA Swimming Championships and for complete results following the meet.
