After finishing in a disappointing 12th spot in last year’s Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Swimming Championships, Carleton was hoping that veteran Kaitlin Swales for the women and rookie Andrew Vo for the men could help better their performances this time around.
But it wasn’t to be as Carleton finished in 12th again in the women’s competition with 46 points Feb. 10-12 in Guelph, Ont.
Carleton University’s swimming varsity coach Nico Belisle said despite the result, he was proud of his swimmers.
“From an individual standpoint I think we performed very well,” Belisle said. “In 90 per cent of our swims we recorded personal bests for our swimmers.”
Belisle said he was especially proud of the women’s performances, praising veteran Swales and MacKenzie Kimm.
“We beat a few schools that I really wasn’t expecting us to beat in the medley relays so I’m really happy with that,” he said.
Swales and Kimm both qualified for the finals of their relays.
Coming into the 2011 OUA Swimming Championships, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and Western University Mutsangs, on the other hand, were firm favourites to finish on top. And they didn’t disappoint.
The W.F Mitchell Athletic Centre played host to the championships from Feb. 10-12, where swimmers from more than 10 universities across Ontario hit the water.
The Toronto Varsity Blues, who were seven-time defending champions in the men’s department, took this year’s competition by storm. They finished with 793.5 points, a massive 141.5 points ahead of second place Western Mustangs.
Third-year swimmer Zach Chetrat shone for the Blues, as he broke three OUA records on his way to an impressive triple gold medal performance on the opening day.
Meanwhile, the victors of the women’s section, defending champions Western Mustangs, narrowly edged out the Varsity Blues to retain their title. Western ended the third and final day with 781.5 points, while the Varsity Blues finished in close second with 734.5 points.
Records tumbled on all three days, and it was only fitting that the final event of the championship saw the McMaster Marauders men set a new record in the 400 meter freestyle relay. They swam the race in 3:24.65, toppling the previously held record by the Varsity Blues from 1999.