University of Toronto Varsity Blues swimmers Zack Chetrat and Poppy Ruksys topped all competition at the 2010 Ontario open water championships on Wednesday July, 7 at Professor’s Lake in Brampton, Ont.

A three-time CIS individual champion in 2010, Chetrat continues to impress in the off season. The Oakville, Ont. native battled it out in the first pack of the 5km race and was the first to cross the finish line in 58:49, one second ahead of Toronto Swim Club (TSC) member and Western Mustang David Hatch (58.50). First-year Varsity Blue David Dorian was sixth in 59:20.

In her first ever open water competition, 2009-10 Varsity Blues women’s athlete of the year nominee Pamela Ruksys (Kingston, Ont.) certainly held her own. The third-year physical education and health student built a strong lead and finished just under a minute before recent Varsity Blues transfer student and second-place Paige Schultz. Ruksys claimed the gold in 1:00.49 with Schultz finishing second in 1:01.36. 

Full Results

In other action, assistant coach Linda Kiefer and Canadian bronze medalist Zsofi Balazs head to Roberval, Quebec this Saturday, July 10 for the world open water championships. Balazs solidified her spot on the national squad with a third-place finish in the 5km and an 11th place finish in the 10km at the open water world championship trials in early June. 

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