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Action photo of Western women's swimmer celebrating after her race
C/O Barry McCluskey
February 20, 2026

Banner Season: record-setting performances highlight day two

Toronto, Ont. (c/o Toronto Varsity Blues) - Heading into the final day of competition at the 2026 OUA Swimming Championships, the host University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s and men’s swimming teams remain atop the overall standings.

Adding another 12 medals to lift their two-day total to 23, the U of T women remain in first place overall with 691 points scored. In second place are the Western Mustangs, who have tallied 568.5 points, while McMaster sits third at 263.5.

For the men, Toronto scored another 12 medals to extend their advantage at the top of the leaderboard to 648 total points. Western remains in second place with a two-day total of 430, while McMaster rounds out the Top 3 with 337.

“I think what makes OUA swimming so special is just the collegial nature of the spirit – all these teams cheering for each other and the camaraderie,” said McMaster swimming head coach Grey Fairley following the end of Day 2 of the championship. “You saw in the last race - You had a race for first-second, you had a race for third-fourth, you had a race for sixth-seventh-eighth, and this place just becomes electric and it is wonderful.”

Three more OUA records were broken on Day 2 of the provincial showcase.

The men’s 100m backstroke saw the previous record of 52.86 toppled twice on Day 2. In the morning prelims, U of T’s Ben Winterborn first bettered the previous mark by one-hundredth of a second, qualifying in 52.85. Then Varsity Blues backstroke specialist Andrew Herman improved upon his teammates’ mark, touching the wall in 52.11. This marked the second OUA record broken by Herman this weekend, who also set the new standard in the 50m backstroke on Day 1

In the women’s 50m butterfly, the OUA record was previously set by Olympic medalist Rebecca Smith in 2019 at 26.77. However, the mark would be bested by Western’s Sydney Hardeman inside Varsity Pool, as she claimed the gold medal in a new record time of 26.72.

“I had no idea until I touched the wall and looked up and heard everyone say it was a record,” described Hardeman. “It means so much. I didn’t even think it was a possibility. I am just so excited to be here. It’s actually my first year competing in Canada as a university swimmer and the atmosphere is insane. I can’t even describe it, it is nothing like I have ever experienced before. It really fueled me for that 50 and I am just feeling so thankful.”

The Western men also set a new OUA record in the 4x200m freestyle relay, improving on the previous best time of 7:19.59. The combination of Connor Barnardo, Riley Carswell, Isaac Allen, and Kieran Stone combined to better the OUA record by over two seconds, touching the wall in 7:17.56.

Rounding out major milestones on Day 2, Varsity Blues standout Nina Mollin became a grand slam champion, winning gold in the women’s 200m IM for a fourth time in her OUA career.

“To achieve something like this is really cool, but also it was definitely a lot harder than I expected, especially with my teammate, Abbi Bahler, just sneaking up right behind me,” said Mollin following the gold-medal performance. “We’ve been having such great finals tonight and like last night, just having all of us on the podium is so exciting to be able to share those moments with teammates.”

The third and final day of the 2026 OUA Swimming Championships from Varsity Pool will begin at 10 a.m., tomorrow morning (Feb. 21). Both the prelims and finals will be streamed live on oua.tv.

TEAM STANDINGS AFTER DAY 2
Men
1. Toronto, 648
2. Western, 430
3. McMaster, 337
4. Waterloo, 265
5. Laurier, 249
6. Brock, 194
7. York, 173
8. Guelph, 94
9. Carleton, 61
10. Queen's, 44
 
Women
1. Toronto, 691
2. Western, 568.5
3. McMaster, 263.5
4. Brock, 243
5. Guelph, 207
6. Waterloo, 195
7. Laurier, 111
8. Carleton, 92
9. Queen’s, 72
10. York, 50
 
DAY 2 RESULTS

W 50M Freestyle

1. Zea Wetzlaugk, Western: 25.05

2. Teagan Vander Leek, Toronto: 25.19

3. Gemma Norman, Toronto: 25.49

 

M 50M Freestyle

1. Liam Weaver, Toronto: 22.52

2. Eric Ginzburg, York: 22.66

3. Connor Barnardo, Western: 22.77

 

W 200M Breaststroke

1. Chloe Danks, Toronto: 2:26.93

2. Shona Branton, Western: 2:28.15

3. Julie Nolan-McCarthy, Toronto: 2:28.76

 

M 200M Breaststroke

1. Nathan Thomas, Toronto: 2:12.39

2. John Ryan, Laurier: 2:14.56

3. Logan Milne, Toronto: 2:14.70

 

W 400M Freestyle

1. Katie Marovino, Toronto: 4:15.97

2. Liz Greaves, Guelph: 4:18.29

3. Milena Cosic, Toronto: 4:20.09

 

M 400M Freestyle

1. Quinn Matteis, Toronto: 3:49.88

2. Kieran Stone, Western: 3:51.43

3. Riley Carswell, Western: 3:51.87

 

W 100M Backstroke

1. Tatum O’Connor, Brock: 59.92

2. Maria Cosic, Toronto: 1:00.65

3. Fiona Brophy, McMaster: 1:01.75

 

M 100M Backstroke

1. Andrew Hermann, Toronto: 52.11 - OUA Record

2. Ben Winterborn, Toronto: 52.81

3. Carter Buck, Toronto: 54.47

 

W 100M Para Backstroke

1. Katie Cosgriffe, Laurier: 1:04.25 

2. Isabella Alma, Carleton: 2:03.95

3. Hannah Burns, Western: 2:22.56

 

W 50M Para Backstroke

1. Hannah Burns, Western: 1:08.53

 

M 100M Para Backstroke

1. Charles Giammichele, McMaster: 1:25.07

2. Nicolas Scott, Carleton: 1:18.83

3. Ian Steadman, Guelph: 2:28.96

 

W 200M IM 

1. Nina Mollin, Toronto: 2:14.75 - Grand Slam

2. Abbi Bahler, Toronto: 2:15.18

3. Julie Nolan-McCarthy, Toronto: 2:17.77

 

M 200M IM

1. Benjamin Loewen, Toronto: 1:58.89

2. Elijah Daley, Toronto: 1:59.80

3. Isaac Allen, Western: 2:01.53

 

W 50M Fly

1. Sydney Hardeman, Western: 26.72 - OUA Record

2. Maria Cosic, Toronto: 27.20 

3. Michelle Wang, McMaster: 27.25

 

M 50M Fly

1. Eric Ginzburg, York: 23.63

2. Aiden Harris, Toronto: 24.30

3. Liam Weaver, Toronto: 24.41

 

W 4x200 Freestyle Relay

1. Toronto: 8:09.75 (Abbi Bahler, Natalie Hocevar, Milena Cosic, Katie Marovino)

2. Western: 8:15.02 (Danielle Treasure, Nea Martin, Isabella Howes, Robin Vadeika)

3. Guelph: 8:30.64 (Lauren Anthony, Holly Nickerson, Alyssa Guterson, Liz Greaves)

 

M 4x200 Freestyle Relay

1. Western: 7:17.56 (Connor Barnardo, Riley Carswell, Isaac Allen, Kieran Stone) - OUA Record

2. Toronto: 7:18.25 (Paul Yang, Quinn Matteis, Mateusz Powalowski, Ben Winterborn)

3. Laurier: 7:29.64 (Owen Jibb, George Radic, Jacob Wahba, William Bryer)

 

DAY 1 RESULTS

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, Waterloo: 1:00.10
2. Nicolas Scott, Guelph: 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, Laurier: 4:21.47 
2. Rowen Uy, Western: 4:22.70 
3. Owen Jibb, Laurier: 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)