The men and women place fourth overall in the standings following strong swims at their playoff meet in London
The McMaster University swim team competed at the Ontario University Athletics championships on Feb. 9 to Feb. 11 at the Western Student Recreation Centre in London. Against 10 other participating schools, both the men and women’s teams placed fourth after tallying 512 and 428 points respectively.
The Marauders were coming off an impressive performance at the University of Toronto Winter Invitational on Jan. 23 after first place finishes from the men and women’s team.
On the opening day of the competition, McMaster finished first in the women’s 4x50m free relay race with a time of 1:46.00. Backed by a team of Hiva Fazeli, Michelle Wang, Leah Russell and Heather Aylward, the Marauders set the competitive tone early to capture their first medal of the OUAs.
Following the women’s race, the men also battled their way to the podium for the 4x50 meter free relay, earning the silver medal behind the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. The quartet of Cyrus Drabik, Bijan Ziaian, Josiah Terejko and Cameron Johnsen finished the race with a time of 1:31.60.
To finish off their first day, Johnsen swam a time of 1:01.59 to nab the bronze medal in the men’s 100 meter breaststroke. The time was less than a second off of Graeme Aylward and Gabe Mastromatteo from Toronto, who rounded out the podium with times of 1:01.29 and 1:01.05 respectively.
“This year, I felt really lucky that we were back to that environment that we haven’t been in three years, which was the place just being absolutely electric, so loud during the relays that you can’t even hear your own voice. . . That was just awesome,” said Johnsen.
“This year, I felt really lucky that we were back to that environment that we haven’t been in three years, which was the place just being absolutely electric, so loud during the relays that you can’t even hear your own voice. . . That was just awesome.”
Cameron Johnsen, McMaster Men's Swim Team
On the next day, Johnsen continued his strong performance with a gold medal in the men’s 200 meter breaststroke. Swimming the race in 2:11.98, Johnsen finished just over half a second faster than the former Olympian, Mastromatteo, who settled for silver with a time of 2:12.51.
The men collected another medal in the men’s 4x200 meter free relay. Max Angove, Trevor Laupland, Kevin Baghdassarian and Colin Campbell finished in 7:36.41 and placed third behind the teams from Western University and Toronto.
To round out their OUA outing, the maroon and grey team collected three more medals on their final day in London.
Johnsen’s dominance carried over into the men’s 4x50 meter medley relay, where he finished in second alongside Campbell, Ziaian and Drabik with a time of 1:41.43. The three-time OUA athlete concluded his spectacular showing by inking the bronze medal in the men’s 50 meter breaststroke.
Aylward, Naeva Scott-Bouris, Andie Llyod and Chelsea Zhou secured the team’s final medal of the competition in the women’s 4x100 meter free relay. Their time of 3:55.26 was good for third place and the race’s bronze medal.
“OUA magic is kind of what we call it on the swim team, which is that feeling of swimming for the team, feeling that electric energy from your teammates on the sideline. . . That’s what turns underdogs into champions and that’s what happened this past weekend,” said Johnsen.
“OUA magic is kind of what we call it on the swim team, which is that feeling of swimming for the team, feeling that electric energy from your teammates on the sideline. . . That’s what turns underdogs into champions and that’s what happened this past weekend.”
Cameron Johnsen, McMaster Men's Swim Team
With eight medals across three days, the McMaster men and women teams each finished fourth in the contest overall. The Toronto Varsity Blues finished first in both the men and women’s standings to defend their title as provincial champions.
To wrap up the season, the Marauders traveled to Victoria, BC to take on the national U Sports Championships at the Saanich Commonwealth Place from Feb. 23 to Feb. 25.
Among those who represented McMaster, swimmers with qualifying times included Terejko and Johnsen in the men’s 100m breaststroke, Will Clarke in the men’s 50m breaststroke, Maggie Smith in the women’s 50m backstroke and Scott-Bouris in the women’s 400m freestyle.
C/O Serena Repice Lentini (Unsplash)
One podium, numerous medals: A wrap-up of the recent OUA swimming championships
As the school year nears completion, many varsity teams would have been expected to finish off their season and dive into their post-season period. However, the Marauders swimming team just started off their season midway through March. From March 10 to March 14, the Marauders competed in the Ontario University Athletics championships.
Although not much has been heard about their season thus far, the swimmers were ready to impress and do their best in their races, and indeed, they did impress.
Although not much has been heard about their season thus far, the swimmers were ready to impress and do their best in their races, and indeed, they did impress.
The OUA championship was hosted by the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. Although the championship format stayed the same, this year the OUA’s would solely include the final races, excluding the qualifiers and preliminaries. The Marauders still had plenty of swimmers with impressive results on the first day of the competition.
Starting off on the first day with the women’s races, the 200-metre free relay featured Cindy Shu, Heather Aylward, Leah Russell and Hiva Fazeli. The four Marauders swam with a final time of 1:46.17, which earned them a silver medal to start off the competition.
Capturing the second and third medals of the day for the Marauders were Sarah Little and Emma Schlyter. Little earned a bronze for finishing with a time of 1:02:33 in the women’s 100-metre butterfly, while Schlyter also earned a bronze with a time of 4:52.32 in the women’s 400-metre individual medley.
As the day continued, more women’s marauders gathered points, which awarded the women’s team with third place overall, scoring a total of 164 points. The only two teams ahead of them were the Varsity Blues and Western Mustangs, with 386 and 230.5 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, on the men’s side, there were also some impressive races on their first day. The most notable, was the 400-metre Medley Relay, which featured Colin Campbell, Cameron Johnsen, Bijan Ziaian and Josiah Terejko. Although they missed out on the podium, the quartet managed to achieve a relatively strong time of 3:49.07, which narrowly stood short of third place.
In terms of the best individual men’s result, Kevin Ireland managed to place as high as fifth in the men's 400-metre individual medley, earning himself a time of 4:37.55. Although he missed the podium, this race proved to be important for the team to regain some key points as they fought for fourth place in the championship.
By the end of the first day the men’s team claimed the fourth position with a total of 138 points. The teams in front of them were the Varsity Blues, Waterloo Warriors and the Mustangs, with 342.5, 234 and 176.5 points, respectively.
On days two and three of the competition, the women’s team further impressed with their podium finishes throughout. The first two medals came in way of the 50-metre butterfly and 800-metre free relay. The 50-metre butterfly awardee was Sarah Little, who achieved a time of 27.89, earning herself a bronze medal. The second bronze medalists were Maeve Bailey, Andie Lloyd, Emma Schlyter and Erin Anderson, who achieved a time of 8:32.27 in the 800-metre free relay.
The other two podiums achieved by the women’s team came on day three, with Schlyter earning her third podium of the championship tournament after winning a silver in the 200-metre individual medley with a mesmerizing time of 2:17.86. Schlyter was hungry for more. She continued her medal streak by coming out with the team’s last — and her fourth — medal of the championship for the 400-metre free relay, achieving a time of 3:53.11 to take home her third bronze.
Schlyter was hungry for more. She continued her medal streak by coming out with the team’s last — and her fourth — medal of the championship for the 400-metre free relay, achieving a time of 3:53.11 to take home her third bronze.
On the men’s side, the only podium finishes that were picked up on the second and third days were by Campbell, Johnsen, Ziaian and Terejko, who achieved an impressive silver medal finish in their 200-metre medley relay with a time of 1:43.25. As for the rest of the team, numerous swimmers worked hard to pick up additional points for the Marauders in the hopes of retaining the fourth place from day one.
Overall, the OUA championships ended with both teams capturing a top-five spot. After three days of competing, the women’s team grabbed third place with 583 points, whereas the men's team achieved fourth place with 356.5 points. Though this was only a regional tournament, the Marauders also received an invitation to the U Sports championships, taking place in Montreal.
