The Varsity Blues men’s and women’s swimming team defeated the Guelph Gryphons in a dual meet held in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Thursday, January 5.

Toronto’s men came away with a 57-40 win, while U of T defeated Guelph 55-42 in women’s action.

The dual meet came at the end of a 10-day training camp for the Blues swimmers.

"This was an interesting experiment," said Varsity Blues head coach Byron MacDonald. "After a tough 10-day training camp, it was not pretty; however, we needed to start racing again after a long break during the exam period."

Fifth-year veteran Pamela Ruksys of Kingston, Ont., led the women with a double gold performance in the 200-metre individual medley (IM) and 200 freestyle.  Sophmore and Toronto native Jeremie Holdom was U of T’s top male swimmer with two first-place finishes in the 100 breast and 200 IM.

“It was an interesting insight for our swimmers to realize that competing in warmer climates have challenges too,” added MacDonald. “The races are outdoors and don’t delay due to cold temperatures.”

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