The University of Toronto Varsity Blues hosted over 400 of the province’s top swimmers at the 2009 Ontario Cup, January 16-17, at Varsity Pool.
Leading the way was Varsity Blues reigning national champion Zack Chetrat (Oakville, Ont.) with a double-gold performance in both the 200m freestyle and 200m butterfly.
"Zack's 200 fly was so controlled that it bodes well for his performance on the national title later in Febraury," said head coach Byron MacDonald.
Second-year standout Andrea Jurenovskis of Timmins, Ont. earned the gold medal in the 100m backstroke with a time of 1:02.46.
"The impressive part of her race was that she was trailing at the three-quarters mark and then came home great to win the race," said MacDonald.
Blues swimmers picked up two more gold medals against the top competition; Martyn Forde (St. John, Barbados) won the men’s 100m freestyle in the outside lane, while Oakville, Ont. native Curtis Samuel won the 400 individual medley (IM).
"Curtis has been stepping up his training and focus this year and its paying off," said assistant coach Linda Kiefer.
Blues co-captain Marco Monaco earned three silver medals in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, as well as the 200m IM.
"There is always a need for a good meet right after the Christmas training period and this meet serves that purpose," said MacDonald. "Sometimes the swimmers and coaches forget that training is a means to an end, and not an end in itself. You are training to be able to race so there needs to be some meets where the swimmers are forced to get up and perform. From that they can evaluate their progress."
Another big highlight for the Blues was the effort of four swimmers that qualified for the CIS national championships, hosted by the University of Toronto, February 18-20, 2010.
Joining the 21 Blues that have already qualified will be second-year Troy MacDonald (Toronto) in the 50m butterfly, rookie Rebecca Sharpe (Bermuda) in the 100m backstroke, sophomore Geroge Soules (Toronto) in the sprint freestyle and Julia Boron (Mississauga, Ont.) in the 200m freestyle.
Full Results
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