Banner Season: Blues dazzle for third straight day en route to double banner wins
London, Ont. (via Western Mustangs) – The University of Toronto Varsity Blues finished off a dominant three days of competition at the 2023 OUA Swimming Championships on Saturday evening, winning both the men’s and women’s team banners. This is the ninth consecutive year winning the championship for the women’s team while the men’s team wins for the nineteenth time in a row.
The Varsity Blues women’s finished first with 1207 points, the host Western Mustangs took the silver medal with 777.5 points and the bronze-medalist Guelph Gryphons finished with 478 points.
On the men’s side, Toronto topped the standings with 790.5 points, ahead of Western with 726 points and the Waterloo Warriors rounded out the team standings with 604 points.
WOMEN’S RESULTS
The Varsity Blues took the top of the podium on six different occasions on the night including breaking the OUA record in two races, Ainsley McMurray finished the 100m Free in 54.06 and then McMurray along with Aleksa Gold, Gemma Norman, Lily Chubaty set the record in a time of 3:42.25 in the 400m Free Relay.
The Varsity Blues also swept the podium in the 800m Free, Anna Hein took gold with Claire Howard with silver and Mahaylia Datars took bronze.
Western standout Shona Branton took her second individual gold medal of the event, winning gold in the 50m Breaststroke in 31.52, her teammate Megan Deering finished with silver in the event (31.76) and Toronto’s Madeline Spencer rounded out the podium (31.84).
MEN’S RESULTS
Toronto’s Gabe Mastromatteo set the OUA record in the 50m breaststroke winning in 27.60 seconds, his teammate Graeme Aylward was second in 27.78 seconds.
The Varsity Blues took gold medals in the 200m Medley Relay, 200m Back (Ben Loewen), 1500m Free (Quinn Matteis), 200 IM (Jacob Gallant).
The host Western Mustangs saw the top of the podium on two occasions on day three of the competition. Luke Stewart-Bender took the top spot in the 100m Free with a final time of 49.70, just ahead of Eric Ginzburg from York at 49.73. The Mustangs (Ethan Placek, Kieran Stone, Justin D’Ailley, Luke Stewart-Beinder) finished the championship by winning the 4x100 free relay in 3:21.70.
MAJOR INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNERS
Swimmer of the Year
Female – Aleksa Gold, Toronto
Male – Gabe Mastromatteo, Toronto
Rookie of the Year
Female – Nina Mollin, Toronto
Male – Ben Loewen, Toronto
Coach of the Year
Female – Chantique Carey-Payne, Guelph
Male – Paul Midgley, Western
Dr. Jeno Tihanyi Individual Medley Excellence Award
Female - Nina Mollin, Toronto
Male - Jacob Gallant, Toronto
Community Service Award
Female – Aleksa Gold, Toronto
Male - Nicholas Scott, Carleton
Awards of Distinction
Megan Deering, Western
Bernard Godolphin, Toronto
Aleksa Gold, Toronto
Claire Howard, Toronto
Ella Rennie, Western
Lukas Wormald, Waterloo
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
Men's
Toronto – 790.5
Western – 726
Waterloo – 604
McMaster – 512
Guelph – 227.5
Brock – 190
Carleton – 181
Queen’s – 180
Laurier – 173
York - 129
Women's
Toronto – 1207
Western – 777.5
Guelph – 478
McMaster – 428
Waterloo – 339.5
Queen’s – 144
Brock – 129
Carleton – 122
Laurier – 103
York – 36
DAY 3 INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS (Saturday)
Women 200m Medley Relay
1. Toronto, 1:54.04
(Angelica Bath, Madeline Spencer, Kaitlyn Burwell, Aleksa Gold)
2. Western, 1:55.04
(Emma Miron, Shona Branton, Megan Deering, Olivia Luka)
3. Guelph, 1:56.20
(Ashley Hodge, Hannah Nordquist, Ali Bertrim, Marcela Hontoria Arroyo)
Men 200m Medley Relay
1. Toronto, 1:39.85
(Carter Buck, Graeme Aylward, Misha Bagrianski, Liam Weaver)
2. McMaster, 1:41.43
(Colin Campbell, Cameron Johnsen, Bijan Ziaian, Cyrus Drabik)
3. Western, 1:41.97
(David Armstrong, Tristan Curry, Vladislav Zagidulin, Diyad Salouse)
Women 800m Free
1. Anna Hein, Toronto, 8:44.90
2. Claire Howard, Toronto, 8:49.69
3. Mahaylia Datars, Toronto, 8:53.06
Women 50m Breast
1. Shona Branton, Western, 31.52
2. Megan Deering, Western, 31.76
3. Madeline Spencer, Toronto, 31.84
Men 50m Breast
1. Gabe Mastromatteo, Toronto, 27.60 OUA RECORD
2. Graeme Aylward, Toronto, 27.78
3. Cam Teasdale, Carleton, 28.02
Women 200m Back
1. Aleksa Gold, Toronto, 2:09.70
2. Haley Klenk, Toronto, 2:11.41
3. Hannah Esterbrooks, Western, 2:12.76
Men 200m Back
1. Ben Loewen, Toronto, 1:58.08
2. Carter Buck, Toronto, 1:58.92
3. Andrew Herman, York, 2:00.56
Women 100m Free
1. Ainsley McMurray, Toronto, 54.06 OUA RECORD
2. Lily Chubaty, Toronto, 55.28
3. Teagan Vander Leek, Toronto, 56.43
Men 100m Free
1. Luke Stewart-Bender, Western, 49.70
2. Eric Ginzburg, York, 49.73
3. Kent Goni Avila, Laurier, 49.94
Men 1500m Free
1. Quinn Mateis, Toronto, 15:39.26
2. Aidan Iapicco, Waterloo, 15:45.75
3. Hayden Bartoch, Western, 16:00.17
Women 200 IM
1. Nina Mollin, Toronto, 2:13.66
2. Shannon Russell, Toronto, 2:17.01
3. Ella Rennie, Western, 2:17.13
Men 200 IM
1. Jacob Gallant, Toronto, 2:01.17
2. Ben Loewen, Toronto, 2:02.79
3. Kieran Stone, Western, 2:03.75
Women 400 Free Relay
1. Toronto, 3:42.25 OUA RECORD
(Aleksa Gold, Gemma Norman, Lily Chubaty, Ainsley McMurray)
2. Western, 3:52.25
(Heidi Bartoch, Danielle Treasure, Kennedy Scott, Ella Rennie)
3. McMaster, 3:55.26
(Heather Aylward, Naeva Scott Bouris, Andie Llyod, Chelsea Zhou)
Men 400 Free Relay
1. Western, 3:21.70
(Ethan Placek, Kieran Stone, Justin D’Ailley, Luke Stewart-Beinder)
2. Waterloo, 3:25.45
(Raymond Duong, Gavin Lusby, Samuel Pei, Lukas Wormald)
3. Laurier, 3:27.25
(Kelton Langman, Daniel Romagnoli, William Bryer, Kent Goni Avila)
