The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's and women's swimming team are in Victoria for the 2020 U SPORTS championships, February 20-22.
 
Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. local time (1 p.m. EDT), with finals scheduled for 6 p.m. local (9 p.m. EDT) nightly. All six sessions will be streamed live on CBC.ca/sports and live results will be available.
 
MEN'S PREVIEW: The Varsity Blues men's swimming team earned their 17th straight OUA banner last week at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, finishing over 400 points ahead of the silver medalist Western Mustangs. The Blues enter the national championships with a No. 3 ranking and will look to reach the U SPORTS podium for the 10th straight season.
 
Two seasoned veterans look to lead the Blues in Victoria this weekend. Fifth-year star Osvald Nitski, who was named a U SPORTS Top 8 academic all-Canadian in 2016-17, is no stranger to the national podium. The 2016 U SPORTS male rookie of the year won the 200 butterfly and 400 IM that season, and reached the 200 butterfly podium in both 2017 and 2018.
 
Returning to the U SPORTS championships after a one-year hiatus, Cam Kidd will be a threat to win the sprint freestyle and butterfly events. He will look for his first U SPORTS individual title after earning two silver and two bronze medals from 2016-18.
 
After a standout performance at the conference meet, sophomore Graeme Aylward will look to reach the national podium in the breaststroke events this weekend. 2019-20 OUA male rookie of the year Bernard Godolphin is also sure to turn heads, while fellow first-year standout Tyler Wall will battle the best in the backstroke events.
 
WOMEN'S PREVIEW: Despite the graduation of 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and two-time world champion Kylie Masse, the Varsity Blues women have not skipped a beat. The Blues claimed their seventh consecutive conference title at the OUA championships last week, finishing almost 350 points ahead of the McMaster Marauders. U of T is ranked second in the nation heading to Victoria and will be vying for their sixth straight podium finish as a team.
 
2019-20 OUA female swimmer of the year Hannah Genich will look to lead the Blues this weekend. The 2019 FISU bronze medalist swept the butterfly events at the conference meet and will be a medal threat in all three distances.
 
She will look to fellow fourth-year veteran Rachel Rodé to earn big points for U of T. Rodé has medaled three times individually at the national championships and won both the 50 backstroke and 50 freestyle at the OUA championships last week.
 
Toronto's depth is highlighted by four previous U SPORTS medalists. Ainsley McMurray, who also claimed a bronze medal at the 2019 FISU Summer Universiade in Naples last summer, is the reigning U SPORTS 50 freestyle bronze medalist, while fellow sophomore standout Aleksa Gold claimed the national bronze medal in the 200 freestyle last season.
 
Fourth-year veterans Georgia Kidd and Sarah Polley have also medaled at the national championships, while rookie breaststroker Abby McDonald will look to shine in her U SPORTS championships debut.
 
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