This past weekend, Oct. 31-Nov. 1, Carleton’s varsity swim team competed in their first two meets of the season. Over the last couple of years, the team has grown, but Carleton still had the smallest team at both meets.
“With several swimmers missing due to reading week, Carleton had ten swimmers at Friday’s meet and nine on Saturday,” said coach Lynn Marshall in an email. “While Carleton didn’t earn many points against much larger teams, there were a lot of commendable performances and great teamwork.”
Third-year Tristan Ogilvie and second-year Erin McRae stood out as leaders for the rest of the team, which consists of all rookies.
On Friday, the team competed against strong teams from the University of Ottawa (U of O), Guelph University, Laurentian University, and Brock University at the Ottawa Invitational.
Saturday, the team headed to Gatineau, to compete at the Défi Sénior et Universitaire. There, they went up against teams from U of O, Laurentian, Natation Gatineau, and Université du Québec en Outaouais.
Carleton’s top swimmer was Mohamed Aly, who was competing for the first time in two years after severely dislocating his shoulder.
“His results were very impressive, with him producing mostly top-10 finishes and showing versatility in making the Carleton Men’s All-Time Top 20 list in no fewer than six events, and just missing (22nd) in his other two races,” Marshall said.
There were also three female swimmers to make the Carleton women’s top 20 list. Dana Dusevic made the list in two events, Lee Gour in three events, and Courtney Buchanan in four events.
Female rookies Lauren Cockfield, Jamie Robertson, Danielle Yang, and Kayla Bose also looked strong in their individual events and contributed fast relay times.
Coach Michele Greb said she was very satisfied with the team.
“Swimmers, you did amazing work this weekend. You showed great team spirit and unity; you had good humour and a ton of positive energy; you represented yourselves and the university very well,” Greb said in an email.
The team will continue to work as they prepare for their next competition, the deBray Division Championships at Brock University on Nov. 28-29.
Here are the new times on Carleton’s All-Time Top 20 Lists:
Men:
100m freestyle: Mohamed Aly: 19th (54.66)
100m backstroke: Mohamed Aly: 15th (1:03.71)
50m breaststroke: Mohamed Aly: relay split (30.97)
50m butterfly: Mohamed Aly: 10th (27.66)
100m butterfly: Mohamed Aly: 19th (1:01.92)
200m medley: Mohamed Aly: 18th (2:19.20)
Women:
50m freestyle: Lee Gour: 16th (29.34); Courtney Buchanan: 20th (29.60); Dana Dusevic: relay split (29.37)
50m backstroke: Courtney Buchanan: 14th (34.15)
100m backstroke: Courtney Buchanan: 16th (1:14.28)
200m backstroke: Courtney Buchanan: 16th (2:42.86)
50m butterfly: Lee Gour: 17th (31.90); Dana Dusevic: 19th (32.42); Lee Gour: relay split (31.47)
100m butterfly: Lee Gour: 20th (1:12.68)
