Banner Season: Blues hold lead after day one of OUA Championships
Toronto, Ont. (C/O Toronto Varsity Blues) - Following the conclusion of the first day of competition at the 2026 OUA Swimming Championships, the host University of Toronto Varsity Blues men’s and women’s teams both hold the lead in the overall team standings.
Earning six total medals, including three golds, the U of T men registered 328 points to build a 111-point advantage over their nearest competitors. The Western Mustangs currently hold second place with 217 points, while the McMaster Marauders sit in third with a total of 159.
For the U of T women, the Varsity Blues ended the day with 329 points after collecting 11 medals, including four golds. The Western Mustangs are close behind with a total of 284 points scored, while McMaster is third with 148.
"It's been good, we didn't have too many misses,” said Western Mustangs swimming head coach Paul Midgley. “There's still two days to go so we'll see what we can do - focus on our skills and the details, continue to work on the process, and the outcome will take care of itself."
Three new records were set in the pool on Day 1.
Delivering in front of the home crowd, U of T’s Andrew Herman bettered his own previous OUA record time of 24.53, set at last year’s championship, touching the wall this year in 24.29.
"It feels great to break the OUA record and get a fast time at home,” said Herman. “We have been working hard in the weight room and in the pool, so every year we just keep going, and it allows us to be trending in the right direction for U SPORTS."
The Blues also saw the women’s 4x100m medley relay team of Maria Cosic, Chloe Danks, Nina Mollin, and Teagan Vander Leek establish a new OUA record time of 4:05.27. They improved on the previous mark of 4:05.94 which was set by U of T in 2019.
York’s Eric Ginzburg rounded out the record-breaking performances in Varsity Pool, improving on a time of 52.41 from last season’s championship with a new standard of 52.22.
Day 2 prelims will begin inside Varsity Pool at 10 a.m. All the action will be available to stream via oua.tv.
TEAM STANDINGS
Men
1. Toronto, 328
2. Western, 217
3. McMaster, 159
4. Waterloo, 136
5. Brock, 122
6. Laurier, 121
7. York, 100
8. Guelph, 59
9. Carleton, 33
10. Queen’s, 22
Women
1. Toronto, 329
2. Western, 284
3. McMaster, 148
4. Waterloo, 122
5. Guelph, 113
6. Brock, 98
7. Laurier, 65
8. Queen’s, 56
9. Carleton, 49
10. York, 32
DAY 1 PODIUMS
W 4x50M Free
1. Western: 1:41.92 (Sydney, Hardeman, Gabriella Casasanta, Leah Butler, Zea Wetzlaugk)
2. Toronto: 1:42.12 (Maria Cosic, Gemma Norman, Angel Yao, Teagan Vander Leek)
3. Brock: 1:42.20 (Cassidy Karrel, Tatum O’Connor, Quinn Mersereau, Grace Chai)
M 4x50M Free
1. Toronto: 1:30.45 (Aiden Harris, Andrew Herman, Carter Buck, Liam Weaver)
2. Western: 1:31.45 (Kyle Stuckless, Hanwen Luo, Jackson Waddell, Luca Cappelletto)
3. McMaster: 1:32.27 (Josiah Terejko, Jacob Pawlak, Nik So, Lucas Chen)
W 200M Free
1. Natalie Hocevar, Toronto: 2:00.32
2. Katie Marovino, Toronto: 2:00.91
3. Abbi Bahler, Toronto: 2:01.11
M 200M Free
1. Kieran Stone, Western: 1:47.37
2. Riley Carswell, Western: 1:48. 68
3. Quinn Matteis, Toronto: 1:49.07
W 100M Breaststroke
1. Shona Branton, Western: 1:06.19
2. Chloe Danks, Toronto: 1:08.40
3. Julie Nolan-McCarthy, Toronto: 1:09.11
M 100M Breaststroke
1. Camren Courchene-Carter, Brock: 1:00.33
2. Hayden Yeung, McMaster: 1:01.03
3. Isaac Allen, Western: 1:01.04
W Para 100M Breaststroke
1. Isabella Alma, Carleton: 2:09.69
M Para 100M Breaststroke
1. Charles Giammichele, McMaster: 1:24.43
2. Nicolas Scott, Carleton: 1:33.99
3. Ian Steadman, Guelph: 2:49.86
W 100M Fly
1. Nina Mollin, Toronto: 1:00.46
2. Angel Yao, Toronto: 1:00.60
3. Ali Bertrim, Guelph: 1:01.02
M 100M Fly
1. Eric Ginzburg, York: 52.22 - OUA Record
2. Benjamin Loewen, Toronto: 52.68
3. Alexander Boden, Waterloo: 53.62
M Para 100M Fly
1. Alec Elliot, Laurier: 1:00.10
2. Nicolas Scott, Carleton: 1:10.08
M Para 50M Fly
1. Ian Steadman, Guelph: 1:10.08
W 50M Back
1. Tatum O’Connor, Brock: 27.66
2. Sydney Hardeman, Western: 28.24
3. Maria Cosic, Toronto: 28.25
M 50M Back
1. Andrew Hermann, Toronto: 24.29 - OUA Record
2. Ben Winterborn, Toronto: 24.92
3. Daniel Chernin, McMaster: 25.26
W 400M IM
1. Abbi Bahler, Toronto: 4:46.53
2. Robin Vadeika, Western: 4:49.50
3. Jessica Thebarge, Carleton: 4.58.30
M 400M IM
1. George Radic, Waterloo: 4:21.47
2. Rowen Uy, Western: 4:22.70
3. Owen Jibb, Waterloo: 4:23.17
W 4x100M Medley
1. Toronto: 4:05.27 (Maria Cosic, Chloe Danks. Nina Mollin, Teagan Vander Leek) - OUA Record
2. Western: 4:06.74 (Hannah Estabrooks, Shona Branton, Brooke Johannson, Zea Wetzlaugk)
3. Guelph: 4:13.47 (Alanna Casasanta, Hannah Nordquist, Ali Bertrim, Liz Greaves)
M 4x100M Medley
1. Toronto: 3:38.64 (Carter Buck, Nathan Thomas, Benjamin Loewen, Raymond Duong)
2. Waterloo: 3:42.85 (Louie Yin, Liam Wallich, Alexander Boden, Kevin Zhang)
3. McMaster: 3.43.29 (Emilio Gonzalez Maciel, Hayden Yeung, Brady Macpherson Lewison, Preston McMann)