Banner Season: Varsity Blues dominate in the pool to pick up seventh consecutive banner sweep
Scarborough, Ont. – For the seventh straight season, the Toronto Varsity Blues swept the team standings, raising both banners on Saturday evening at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre (TPASC) as the 2020 men’s and women’s OUA Swimming champions.
After another display of excellence in the pool, the Blues came away with 11 gold medals in the final day of action, giving the women’s team their seventh straight WIAU Swimming Trophy, while the men captured their 17th straight Dougall trophy.
After picking up five gold medals in the first two days, fourth-year Blues swimmer Hannah Genich captured her sixth with a win in the women’s 200m IM (2:11.70), earning her the honour of OUA Female Swimmer of the Year.
First-year swimmer Bernard Godolphin was named rookie of the year after leading off the gold medal winning 400m freestyle relay for Toronto (3:20.47). The Montreal, Que. native picked up his fourth medal of the championship, ending the three-day meet with three gold and a silver to his name.
Western Mustangs Sebastian Paulins was named the OUA Male Swimmer of the Year, keeping the award in the purple and white family for the second straight year. They fourth-year phenom broke a 14 year-old record by .05 seconds on his way to clinching gold in the men’s 1500m freestyle (15:21.66).
Paulins was also named the 2020 Dr. Jeno Tihanyi IM Excellence Award winner after swimming to gold in the men’s 400m IM medley on day one (4:21.21).
Receiving the honour on the women’s side was fellow Mustang Ella Rennie who captured gold in the women’s 400m IM (4:50.56) on day one as well.
Rennie picked up bronze in the women’s 200m IM (2:15.45) on day three, giving the first-year swimmer her fourth medal of the championship, as well as 2020 OUA Rookie of the Year honours.
For their efforts outside of the pool, a pair of individuals were named Coach of the Year for the first time in their careers.
Leading the Marauders through and through falling just shy of the podium, McMaster head coach Grey Fairley was named Male Coach of the Year, while Laurentian’s Phil Parker received the Women’s Coach of the Year award.
Equally as adept in the pool as they are in the classroom, or their respective communities, Celine Funk of the Brock Badgers, and Osvald Nitski of the Toronto Varsity Blues received the 2020 OUA Community Service award.
MAJOR INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNERS
Swimmer of the Year
Female – Hannah Genich (Toronto)
Male - Sebastian Paulins (Western)
Rookie of the Year
Female – Ella Rennie (Western)
Male – Bernard Godolphin (Toronto)
Coach of the Year
Female Team – Phil Parker (Laurentian)
Male Team – Grey Fairley (McMaster
Dr. Jeno Tihanyi Individual Medley Excellence Award
Female – Ella Rennie (Western)
Male – Sebastian Paulins (Western)
Community Service Award
Female – Celine Funk (Brock)
Male – Osvald Nitski (Toronto)
Awards of Distinction
Jasmine Raines – Laurier
Rachel Rode – Toronto
Osvald Nitski – Toronto
Gaël Chubet – Toronto
Cameron Kidd – Toronto
Matthew Mac – Toronto
Mitchell Muizelaar – McMaster
Matthew Loewen – Western
Matthew Fox - Western
Day Three Results:
Women 200m Medley Relay
1. Toronto, 1:53.55
(Rode, McDonalds, Burwell, Munro)
2. Western, 1:54.76
(Miron, Deering, Fedder, Kranjc)
3. Guelph, 1:55.76
(Van Herk, Anderson, Kennedy, Kearney)
Men 200m Medley Relay
1. Toronto, 1:39.02 OUA RECORD
(Wall, Aylward, Mac, Kidd)
2. Western, 1:40.81
(Fox, Loewen, Chappell, Ford)
3. Waterloo, 1:41.74
(Wormald, Gu, Chow, Li)
Women 800m Free
1. Claire Howard, Toronto, 8:55.00
2. Kate Rendall, Toronto, 8:58.54
3. Jess Cheng, Toronto, 9:05.89
Women 50m Breaststroke
1. Megan Deering, Western, 32.15
2. Christina Ji, Waterloo, 32.89
3. Lea Zila, Toronto, 32.99
Men 50m Breaststroke
1. Matthew Loewen, Western, 27.82
2. Cameron Kidd, Toronto, 28.32
3. Graeme Aylward, Toronto, 28.56
Women 200m Backstroke
1. Aleksa Gold, Toronto, 2:11.18
2. Sarah Polley, Toronto, 2:12.39
3. Veronica Nichol, McMaster, 2:13.44
Men 200m Backstroke
1. Tyler Wall, Toronto, 1:58.38
2. Matthew Klahsen, Western, 1:59.75
3. Matthew Mac, Toronto, 2:00.14
Women 100m Freestyle
1. Ainsley McMurray, Toronto, 55.02
2. Aleksa Gold, Toronto, 55.31,
3. Isabelle Lei, McMaster, 55.51
Men 100m Freestyle
1. Cameron Kidd, Toronto, 49.55
2. Samuel Boily-Dufour, Laurentian, 50.23
3. Bjoern-Ole Schrader, Toronto, 50.28
Men 1500m Freestyle
1. Sebastian Paulins, Western, 15:21.66, OUA RECORD
2. Mitch Muizelaar, McMaster, 15.43.87
3. Gokhan Bozyigit, Brock, 15:46.49
Women 200m Individual Medley
1. Hannah Genich, Toronto, 2:11.70
2. Georgia Kidd, Toronto, 2:14.54
3. Ella Rennie, Western, 2:15.45
Men 200m Individual Medley
1. Osvald Nitski, Toronto, 2:03.19
2. Lukas Wormald, Waterloo, 2:03.27
3. Hohyun Ryu, Waterloo, 2:04.03
Women 400m Freestyle Relay
1. Toronto, 3:44.92
(Polley, Gold, Howard, McMurray)
2. Western, 3:48.97
(Sawchuk, Roberts, Chen, Kranjc)
3. McMaster, 3:49.27
(Nichol, Little, Zhou, Schlyter)
Men 400m Freestyle Relay
1. Toronto, 3:20.47
(Godolphin, Konik, Schrader, Kidd)
2. Western, 3:22.66
(Fox, Chappell, Placek, Paulins)
3. Waterloo, 3:24.52
(Li, Bird, Ryu, Wormald)
