Led by 2008 Olympian, Colin Russell, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men’s swimming team finished ahead of the 2008-09 CIS gold and silver medalist, the UBC Thunderbirds and the Calgary Dinos, to capture the men’s title at the third annual University Challenge Cup on Thursday, November 26 at Varsity Pool.
With five of the top seven teams in the country participating, the University Challenge Cup ranks as the premiere intercollegiate swim meet of the year outside of the CIS national championships. The top three men’s finishers were separated by a mere 38.5 points: Toronto with 238.5, Calgary had 214, and Alberta finished with 200.
"To win the men’s title was actually a bit surprising," said Blues head coach Byron MacDonald. "The two western teams [Calgary and Alberta] were ranked ahead of us and I was unsure if we would be able to top them - but we got the swims that we needed, when we needed them and came away with the victory.”
The University of Calgary Dinos took the combined team trophy. The women’s first-place finish of 238 points plus the men’s runner-up performance posted a team total of 452 points. The Alberta Pandas and Golden Bears finished second with a combined total of 410, while the U of T placed third with 404.5.
Toronto’s top male swimmer was Burlington, Ont. native Russell. A former world-record holder, the arts and science major claimed gold in the men’s 50m and 100m freestyle events. He also anchored the Blues 200m freestyle relay team of Martyn Forde (St. John, BRB), Taylor Bond (Westmount, Que.) and Luke Hall (Swaziland, AFR) to a first-place finish.
“I’m really happy with my times at this point in the season,” said Russell. “This is my last year with the U of T and I really want to help our school [achieve] a lot of success. This was a great start to what we hope can culminate with the team title at the CIS championships (in February).”
Other notable performances for the Blues included Cam Cummings’ (Oakville, Ont.) first-place finish in the 100m backstroke and second-year swimmer Zack Chetrat’s gold-medal winning performance in the 100m butterfly.
In women’s action, the Blues finished fourth in the team standings, behind the defending CIS champs Calgary Dinos, the UBC Thunderbirds and the Alberta Pandas.
Top Varsity performances include Andrea Jurenovskis’ (Timmins, Ont.) silver medal in the 100m backstroke and another second-place finish for Kingston, Ont. native Poppy Ruksys in the 400m freestyle.
Full Results
The Varsity Blues return to the pool this weekend (Nov. 27-29) for the 2009 Canada Cup at the Etobicoke Olympium.
The University of Toronto is proud to host the 2010 CIS swimming championships from February 18-20 in Varsity Pool.
For more information, scores and highlights on your favourite Toronto teams, please visit the home of the Varsity Blues at http://www.varsityblues.ca.
