Jing Qu

Mustangs claim silver at both men's and women's swimming championship

2/8/2018 7:58:00 PM

By: Pam Bialik

LONDON, Ont. – The Mustangs took second place in both the men's and women's competitions at the 2018 OUA Swimming Championship, falling behind only the reigning champions in the Varsity Blues.

"I'm really pleased with both the men's and women's team," said Mustangs head coach Paul Midgely. "The men's team had struggled with various issues through the year, and they pulled together very well to come in second overall. The women's team, in rebuilding year with a lot of rookies and freshmen, there were some great performances."

The Western Mustangs came in behind Toronto in both the men's and women's competition, with McMaster earning bronze on the women's side while Ottawa claimed third place on the men's.

Click here for full results.

Western's men team finished with 748.5 total points after adding another nine podium finishes on the final day of competition. Three came from the women's team, while the men earned six to secure their second-place finish.

Charis Huddle was won the only individual medal for the women, coming in first in the 100m freestyle with a time of 54.50.

The other two podium finishes came from relay events, with Western seeing success in both the 200m medley and 400m free relay.

For the 400m relay, Huddle teamed up with Rachel Sawchuk, Keira Brazeau, and Katarina Kranjc to finish in 3:46.50 to take silver. The 200m medley relay sawJessica Allen, Joan-Shiao Chen, Hayley Hess, Lexi Meklensek place third after finishing the race in 1:55.62.

"Incredible. Beyond what I have anticipated," said Huddle about her performance throughout the weekend. "I think I'm still processing just how fast I swam, and definitely the highlights for me this meet we're getting to compete on relays with my teammates. It's been pretty unreal, but this is a stepping stone to U SPORTS in a few weeks, and I'm really excited for what this means for that upcoming competition as well."

On the men's side, Matthew Loewen had the best finish of the day with a gold medal in the 50m breaststroke. In addition to his time of 27.65 qualifying him for the U SPORTS Championship, he also improved upon the standing OUA record.

Loewen also helped the Mustangs to a third-place finish in the 200m medley relay, alongside Matthew Klahsen, Nathan Lethbridge, and Brent Waddell. The team finished in 1:41.38, behind Toronto and Waterloo.

The 400m freestyle relay also resulted in a purple and white bronze medal, with Loewen, Waddell, Andrew Sui, and Gamal Assaad finishing in 3:23.06.

Klahsen went on to medal individually as well, taking third in the 200m backstroke (2:01.25).
The longest race of the day, the 1500m freestyle, saw two more podium finishes added to the Mustang total. After being neck-and-neck all race long, Alex Paulins narrowly outswam his brother to a second place finish (15:45.51), while Sebastian Paulins placed third with a time of 15:45.66.

McMaster came in third on the women's side after one of their strongest days of competition. Six podium finishes helped bring their point total to 484.5.

Olivvya Chow continued her strong performance to win the only Marauder gold of the day and set a new OUA record along with it. She finished the 50m breaststroke in 31.26, easing the record previously held by Victoria Wicks.

She also came second in the 200m IM (2:18.52), while helping her team to a silver medal in the 400m medley relay (4:12.52).

Ottawa placed third in the men's competition, finishing with 165.5 points after seeing another
three podium finishes.

Two came from the 200m IM, that saw the Gee-Gees take the top two spots, with one more coming from the 100m freestyle. Montana Champagne won the 200m IM after finishing the race in 1:59.85, with teammate James Cormier coming in second in 2:02.08.

Davide Casarin earned the remaining Gee-Gees medal of the day, taking second in the 100m freestyle (49.70).

The Varsity Blues cleaned up at the awards presentation as well, with two grand slam awards, the women's swimmer of the year, and four graduating athlete awards of distinction.

Masse earned two Grand Slams this year in the 50m backstroke and the 100m backstroke, in addition to being named the OUA Female Swimmer of the Year. Eli Wall was the second Varsity Blue to earn a Grand Slam – awarded to athletes who have won four gold medals within a single event during their OUA career – after taking first in the 200m backstroke.

Toronto's Hannah Genich was the female recipient of the Jeno Tihanyi for IM Excellence, alongside Montana Champagne of the Ottawa Gee-Gees.

Ottawa's second award of the evening came from Jacob Issac's Rookie of the Year nod, with McMaster's Isabelle Lei taking the title on the women's side. Meanwhile, fellow GeeGee Davide Casarin was named Male Swimmer of the Year.

Eight swimmers were also presented with the Graduating Athlete Award of Distinction, with McMaster's Chow, Waterloo's Jonathan Ramkissoon, Western's Gamal Assaad and Alex Paulins, and Toronto's Kyle Haas, Dan Kuiack, Eli Wall, and Hochan Ryu all being honoured.

Toronto's final award of the evening went to head coach Byron MacDonald, who was named OUA Women's Coach of the Year. Dave Heinbuch of the Ottawa Gee-Gees received the award on the men's side.

OUA Swimmers will have just under two weeks until they're back in the pool competing, as the U SPORTS Championships are just around the corner. The national championship will kick off on February 22 and run until February 24 at Toronto's Varsity Pool.

TEAM STANDINGS

 

Women's

1. Toronto (1030)

2. Western (582)

3. McMaster (484.5)

4. Ottawa (431)

5. Guelph (346)

6. Waterloo (313)

7. Laurentian (229)

8. Laurier (157)

9. Queen's (111)

10. York (107)

11. Brock (83.5)

12. Carleton (56)

Men's
1. Toronto (932)
2. Western (748.5)
3. Ottawa (487)
4. Guelph (346)
5. Waterloo (342)
6. McMaster (272.5)
7. Laurentian (234)
8. Queen's (175)
9. Laurier (139)
10. Brock (113)
11. Carleton (62)
12. York (58)

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS

Women's

Swimmer of the Year: Kylie Masse, Toronto
Rookie of the Year: Isabelle Lei, McMaster
Coach of the Year: Byron McDonald, Toronto
Dr. Jeno Tihanyi Award for IM Excellence: Hannah Genich, Toronto
Graduating Athlete Award of Distinction: Olivvya Chow, McMaster

Men's

Swimmer of Year: Davide Casarin, Ottawa
Rookie of the Year: Jacob Issac, Ottawa
Coach of the Year: Dave Heinbuch, Ottawa
Dr. Jeno Tihanyi Award for IM Excellence: Montana Champagne, Ottawa
Graduating Athlete Award of Distinction: Jonathan Ramkissoon (Waterloo), Western's Gamal Assaad (Western) and Alex Paulins (Western) Kyle Haas (Toronto), Dan Kuiack (Toronto), Eli Wall(Toronto), and Hochan Ryu (Toronto).

Day Three Results:

Women 200m Medley Relay
Gold: Toronto: 1:50.38
(Kylie Masse, Rachael Parsons, Rachel Rode, Emily Russell)
Silver: McMaster: 1:55.15
(Hannah Dvorski, Olivvya Chow, Cailyn Eley, Sarah Little)
Bronze: Western: 1:55.62
(Jessica Allen, Joan-Shiao Chen, Hayley Hess, Lexi Meklensek)

Men 200m Medley Relay
Gold: Toronto: 1:39.78
(Kyle Haas, Eli Wall, Cameron Kidd, Dan Kuiack)
Silver: Waterloo: 1:41.23
(Leon Ouyang, Jonathan Ramkissoon, Aidan Chow, Alex Loljko)
Bronze: Western: 1:41.38
(Matthew Klahsen, Matthew Loewen, Nathan Lethbridge, Brent Waddell)

Women 800m Free
Gold: Sophia Saroukian (Toronto): 8:48.19
Silver: Delphine Vandal (Ottawa): 8:52.11
Bronze: Carleen Ginter (McMaster): 8:55.92

Women 50m Breast
Gold: Olivvya Chow (Ottawa): 31.26
Silver: Rachael Parsons (Toronto): 31.88
Bronze: Samantha Anderson (Guelph): 33.50

Men 50m Breast
Gold: Matthew Loewen (Western): 27.65
Silver: Eli Wall (Toronto): 27.91
Bronze: Jon Ramkissoon (Waterloo): 28.00

Women 200m Back
Gold: Sarah Polley (Toronto): 2:11.05
Silver: Veronica Nichol (McMaster): 2:13.01
Bronze: Eloise Ladyman (Waterloo): 2:13.04

Men 200m Back
Gold: Matthew Mac (Toronto): 1:58.18
Silver: Hochan Ryu (Toronto): 2:00.69
Bronze: Matthew Klahsen (Western): 2:01.25

Women 100m Free
Gold: Charis Huddle (Western): 54.50
Silver: Isabelle Lei (McMaster): 55.13
Bronze: Rachel Rode (Toronto): 55.83

Men 100m Free
Gold: Mitch Ferraro (Toronto): 49.66
Silver: Davide Casarin (Ottawa): 49.70
Bronze: Matthew Schouten (Laurentian): 49.81

Men 1500m Free
Gold: Mitch Muizelaar (McMaster): 15:21.93
Silver: Alex Paulins (Western): 15:45.51
Bronze: Sebastian Paulins (Western): 15.45.66

Women 200m Individual Medley
Gold: Hannah Genich (Toronto): 2:13.48
Silver: Olivvya Chow (McMaster): 2:18.52
Bronze: Cino Ling (Toronto): 2:19.35

Men 200m Individual Medley
Gold: Montana Champagne (Ottawa): 1:59.85
Silver: James Cormier (Ottawa): 2:02.08
Bronze: Eli Wall (Toronto): 2:02.67

Women 400m Free Relay
Gold: Toronto: 3:45.69
(Sarah Polley, Victoria Radounski, Emily Russell, Olivia Sbaraglia)

Silver: Western: 3:46.87
(Rachel Sawchuk, Keira Brazeau, Charis Huddle, Katarina Kranjc)

Bronze: McMaster: 3:47.95
(Veronica Nichol, Mianchen wang, Hannah Dvorski, Isabelle Lei)

Men 400m Free Relay
Gold: Toronto: 3:21.28
(Cameron Kidd, Simon Meier, Alex Magnan, Mitch Ferraro)

Silver: Western: 3:23.06
(Gamal Assaad, Brent Waddell, Matthew Loewen, Andrew Siu)

Bronze: Guelph: 3:25.10
(Daniel Reardon, Philip Vranic, Simon Paisley, Daniel Barros)

DAY TWO RECAP

LONDON, Ont. – Western continues to hold down second place in both the men's and women's OUA Championship - behind the defending champions in the Varsity Blues - with only one day of competition remaining.

Click here for full results.

On the men's side, Toronto racked up eight medal finishes to end the day with 653 points, while the women added 13 top three finishes to their total for 728 points. Six of those finishes came from just two races, as the Blues swept the women's 50 metre butterfly and the 200m butterfly.

Only one race managed to fully escape the grasp of the Varsity Blues, with the men's 400m freestyle serving as the only event that did not see someone from the Toronto roster standing on the podium.

Western continues to sit in second in both the men's (515.5) and women's (399) contests after the second day of competition saw the teams add a combined eight podium finishes to the purple and white total. The men were responsible for five, while the women earned three.

Sebastain Paulins took bronze in the 400m freestyle (), a finish he then matched in the 800m freestyle relay. Paulins teamed up with Andrew Vallee, Alex Bartley, and brother Alex Paulins to finish the race in 7:34.12.

Matthew Loewen broke onto the podium after finishing the 200m breaststroke in 2:14.00, less than a second behind teammate Jotham D'Ailly who ended with a time of (2:13.69).

Gamal Assaad was the only other Mustang to finish in the top three, coming in second after finishing the 50m breaststroke in 24.36.

Charis Huddle singlehandedly won the Mustangs two of the three medals earned. She placed second in both the 100m breaststroke and the 50m freestyle to be the top purple and white women's finisher.

The final medal of the day came from Stephanie Cairns, Keira Brazeau, Katelyn Cairns, and Rachel Sawchuk's second place finish in the 800m freestyle relay.

McMaster and Ottawa round out the top three teams, with the Marauders third in the women's while the Gee-Gees are third in the men's competition.

McMaster's only podium finish of the day came from Olivvya Chow's performance in the 200m breaststroke. Chow finished behind Laurier's Jasmine Raines to take second with a time of 2:30.27.

Ottawa was led by Davide Casarin, who had a hand in three of the five medals the Gee-Gees won throughout the day. Casarin took gold in the 400m freestyle and silver in the 200m butterfly, while also anchoring the second-place 800m freestyle relay team.

Montana Champagne raced alongside Cararin in the 800m relay, after taking gold in the 200m butterfly. Miles Ruttan rounded out the podium finishes with a third-place finish in the 100m breaststroke.

Four records were also broken throughout the day – three of which came courtesy of the Varsity Blues.

Kylie Masse set a new OUA standard for the 50m freestyle in the preliminaries (24.77), while Hannah Gerich finished the 200m fly in 2:10.56 for an OUA record of her own.

Eli Wall was the third Varsity Blue to break a record in the second day of competition, as he completed the 200m breaststroke in 2:10.19, eclipsing the previous record – set by Wall in 2017 – by almost an entire second.

Raines was responsible for the fourth record of the day, beating the time she initially set in last year's OUA Championship. The Golden Hawk finished the 200m breaststroke in 2:27.50, shaving 0.13 seconds off the previous mark.

Day Two Results:

Women 400m Free
Gold: Sophia Saroukian (Toronto): 4:14.84
Silver: Delphine Vandal (Ottawa): 4:15.00
Bronze: Mac Finkbeiner (Ottawa): 14:18.82

Men 400m Free
Gold: Davide Casarin (Ottawa): 3:54.91
Silver: Osvlad Nitski (Toronto): 3:56.34
Bronze: Sebastian Paulins (Western): 3:56.72

Women 50m Fly
Gold: Rachel Rode (Toronto): 26.91
Silver: Hannah Genich (Toronto) 26.99
Bronze: Sophie Du Plessis (Toronto) 27.58

Men 50m Fly
Gold: Cameron Kidd (Toronto): 24.23
Silver: Gamal Assaad (Western): 24.36
Bronze: Mitch Ferraro (Toronto): 24.78

Women 200m Breast
Gold: Jasmine Raines (Laurier): 2:27.50
Silver: Olivvya Chow (McMaster): 2:30.27
Bronze: Rachael Parsons (Toronto): 2:30.35

Men 200m Breast
Gold: Eli Wall (Toronto): 2:10.19
Silver: Jotham D'Ailly (Western): 2:13.69
Bronze: Matthew Loewen (Western): 2:14.00

Women 100m Back
Gold: Kylie Masse (Toronto): 56.95
Silver: Charis Huddle (Western): 1:00.70
Bronze: Sarah Polley (Toronto): 1:01.12

Men 100m Back
Gold: Kyle Haas (Toronto): 54.35
Silver: Dan Kuiack (Toronto): 55.36
Bronze: Miles Ruttan (Ottawa): 55.90

Women 200m Fly
Gold: Hannah Genich (Toronto): 2:10.81
Silver: Sophie Du Plessis (Toronto): 2:16.52
Bronze: Jess Yu (Toronto): 2:17.49

Men 200m Fly
Gold: Montana Champagne (Ottawa): 1:57.37
Silver: Davide Casarin (Ottawa): 1:58.79
Bronze: Osvlad Nitski (Toronto): 1:59.08

Women 50m Free
Gold: Kylie Masse (Toronto): 24.78
Silver: Charis Huddle (Western): 24.91
Bronze: Rachel Rode (Toronto): 25.56

Men 50m Free
Gold: Cameron Kidd (Toronto): 22.32
Silver: Matthew Schouten (Laurentian): 22.54
Bronze: Mitch Ferraro (Toronto): 22.75

Women 800m Free Relay
Gold: Toronto: 8:16.56
(Hannah Genich, Sophia Saroukian, Melanie McDonald, Victoria Radounski)

Silver: Western: 8:25.63
(Stephanie Cairns, Keira Brazeau, Katelyn Cairns, Rachel Sawchuk)

Bronze: Ottawa: 8:27.60
(Mackenize Finkbeiner, Alina Juuti, Delphine, Morgan Mccartney)

Men 800m Free Relay
Gold: Toronto: 7:27.80
(Simon Meier, Gaël Chaubet, Osvald Nitski, Matthew Mac)

Silver: Ottawa: 7:32.24
(James Cormier, Montana Champagne, Marko Tanasijevic, Davide Casarin)

Bronze: Western: 7:34.12
(Alex Paulins, Andrew Vallee, Alex Bartley, Sebastian Paulins)

DAY ONE RECAP

LONDON, Ont. – With day one of the OUA Championships out of the way, the Mustangs sit second - behind Toronto - on both the men's and women's side with a combined 13 medals under their belt.

Click here for full results.

Toronto pulled in ten podium finishes on the women's side and finished the day with 326 points, while the men saw eight top three finishes and a total of 313.

The Mustangs follow in both the men's and women's competition, with six top-three finishes for the women and seven for the men to finish with 215.50 and 270.50 points, respectively.

On the men's side, Gamal Assaad won gold in the 100m Butterfly (53.54) while Alex Bartley took first in the 400m IM (4:25.38).

Meanwhile, the 200m Freestyle Relay (Brent Waddell, Nathan Lethbridge, Elias Chappell, and Andrew Siu), the 400m Medley Relay team (Matthew Klahsen, Matthew Loewen, Siu, and Assaad), and individual performances from Matthew Fox in the 50m Backstroke and Alex Paulins in the 400m IM provided Western with four silver medals to generate the bulk of the purple and white points.

Loewen's third place finish in the 100m Breaststroke rounded out the Mustang top finishes, as he placed third overall.

For the women, Charis Huddle led the team to two of their three podium finishes.

She served as lead in the 200m Freestyle Relay alongside Joan-Shiao Chen, Katarina Kranjc, and Hayley Hess (1:43.96) in addition to placing third in the 200m Individual Freestyle (2:01.20).

Also winning bronze was Jessica Allen, who placed third in the 50m Backstroke, and the 400m Medley Relay team of Allen, Katelyn Cairns, Brigitte Ryan, and Lexi Meklensek.

The Mustangs also saw success in the 400m IM, with Courtney DeCarlo and Steph Cairns taking first (4:56.47) and second (4:57.86) respectively.

Rounding out the top three teams are the Marauders and the Gee-Gees. McMaster is in third on the women's side with 154 points after earning six podium finishes, while Ottawa holds down the same spot on the men's side with two top three finishes and 165.50 points.

Day One also saw the establishment of four OUA records, three on the women's side and one on the men's, while one athlete earned a grand slam award.

McMaster's Olivvya Chow broke the first record of the afternoon, just hours after setting the previous record in the preliminary round. Her time of 1:08.85 in the 100m Breaststroke became the new championship standard this morning, but she managed to shave an additional few hundredths of a second off to set the new mark at 1:08.44.

The Varsity Blues' Eli Wall and Kylie Masse were responsible for the other record setting races, with Wall swimming the 100m Breaststroke in 1:00.15, while Masse topped her own 100m Butterfly record set in 2016 with a time of 57.70.

Masse also set a 50m Backstroke record in the preliminaries (26.46), and would later win the final (26.52) for the fourth time in her university career to earn an OUA grand slam.

Along with a handful of records, the Varsity Blues also executed a full sweep of the Women's 100m Fly, with Masse (57.70), Hannah Genich (58.47), and Jess Yu (1:02.39) taking the top three spots. Toronto narrowly missed out on three other full podium sweeps, taking two spots in the men's and women's 50m Backstroke, and the men's 100m Fly.

The only other team that neared a full sweep was the Mustangs, who took two of three medals in the women's 400m IM, and the men's 400m IM.

Outside of the Mustangs and Varsity Blues, McMaster and Ottawa were the only schools to earn a gold medal finish.

The Marauders saw Isabelle Lei win the 200m Free with a time of 2:00.60, in addition to Chow's record setting performance in the 100m Breaststroke.

Ottawa's gold came courtesy of Davide Casarin, who finished the 200m Free in 1:47.25.

Day Two of the OUA Championships begins tomorrow, with the preliminaries scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. The finals will begin at 6 p.m., with fans able to catch all the action live on OUA.tv.

Day One Team Standings

Women
Toronto - 326
Western - 215.50
McMaster - 154
Ottawa - 144
Waterloo - 123
Guelph - 116
Laurentian - 81
Laurier - 58
Queens - 40
York - 39
Brock - 34.50
Carleton - 24

Men
Toronto - 313
Western - 270.50
Ottawa - 165.50
Waterloo - 115
Guelph - 106
McMaster - 98
Laurentian - 82
Queen's - 75
Laurier - 52
Brock - 31
York - 24
Carleton - 23

Women's 200 Freestyle Relay
Gold: Toronto: 1:42.04
(Emily Russell, Rachel Rode, Heather Lam, Kylie Mass)

Silver: Western: 1:43.96
(Charis Huddle, Joan Chen, Katarina Kranjc, Hayley Hess)

Bronze: McMaster: 1:44.36
(Hannah Dvorski, Sarah Little, Mianchen Wang, Isabelle Lei)

Men's 200m Free Relay

Gold: Toronto: 1:31.66
(Dan Kuiack, Cameron Kidd, Joao Fontenelle, Mitch Ferraro)

Silver: Western: 1:32.44
(Brent Wadell, Nathan Lethbridge, Elias Chappell, Andrew Siu)

Bronze: Laurentian: 1:32.65
(Matthew Schouten, Christopher Eastick, Cameron McCabe, Samuel Boily-Dufour)

Women 200m Free
Gold: Isabelle Lei (McMaster): 2:00.60
Silver: Sarah Polley (UofT): 2:01.09
Bronze: Charis Huddle (Western): 2:01.20

Men 200m Free
Gold: Davide Casarin (Ottawa): 1:47.25
Silver: Philip Vranic (Guelph): 1:49.21
Bronze: Gaël Chaubet (Toronto): 1:51.07

Women 50m Backstroke
Gold: Kylie Masse (Toronto): 26.52
Silver: Rachel Rode (Toronto): 27.31
Bronze: Jessica Allen(Western): 28.23

Men 50m Backstroke
Gold: Kyle Haas (Toronto): 25.05
Silver: Matthew Fox (Western): 25.25
Bronze: Dan Kuiack (Toronto): 25.39

Men 100m Breaststroke
Gold: Eli Wall (Toronto): 1:00.15
Silver: Jonathan Ramkissoon (Waterloo): 1:00.87
Bronze: Matthew Loewen (Western): 1:00.93

Women 100m Breaststroke
Gold: Olivvya Chow (McMaster): 1:08.44
Silver: Jasmine Raines (Laurier): 1:09.14
Bronze: Rachael Parsons (Toronto): 1:09.60

Women 100m Fly
Gold: Kylie Masse (Toronto): 57:70
Silver: Hannah Genich (Toronto): 58:47?
Bronze: Jess Yu (Toronto): 1:02.39

Men 100m Fly
Gold: Gamal Assaad (Western): 53.54
Silver: Osvald Nitski (Toronto): 54.37
Bronze: Gaël Chaubet (Toronto): 54.65

Women 400 IM
Gold: Courtney DeCarlo (Western): 4:56.47
Silver: Stephanie Cairns (Western): 4:57.86
Bronze: Jess Cheng (Toronto): 4:58.10

Men 400 IM
Gold: Alex Bartley (Western): 4:25.37
Silver: Alex Paulins (Western): 4:29.21
Bronze: Will Morley (Toronto): 4:30.94

Women 400 Medley Relay

Gold: Toronto: 4:08.12
(Heather Lam, Rachael Parsons, Hannah Genich, Sarah Polley)

Silver: McMaster: 4:12.52
(Veronica Nichol, Olivvya Chow, Cailyn Eley, Carleen Ginter)

Bronze: Western: 4:16.78
(Jessica Allen, Brigitte Ryan, Katelyn Cairns, Lexi Meklensek)

Men 400 Medley Relay

Gold: Toronto: 3:38.88
(Kyle Haas, Eli Wall, Osvald Nitski, Dan Kuiack)

Silver: Western: 3:42.72
(Matthew Klahsen, Matthew Loewen, Gamal Assaad, Andrew Siu)

Bronze: Ottawa: 3:43.01
(Miles Ruttan, Montana Champagne, Davide Casarin, James Cormier)

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