Hosting the Western Mustangs at the Athletic Centre - Varsity Pool on Saturday (Jan. 18) in a dual meet, both the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's and men's swimming teams claimed victory in the pool.

The Toronto women outscored Western 83-59, while the U of T men knocked off the Mustangs by a final margin of 86-60.

"Racing is the name of the game, so it's always good to have a meet with Western as one of the top teams in the province vying for a title with us," said Varsity Blues swimming head coach Byron MacDonald.

A standout on the women's side of the bracket, third-year Blues veteran Teagan Vander Leek claimed three individual first-place finishes, winning the 50m freestyle (25.50), 100m freestyle (55.88), and 100m IM (1:03.62).

"Each meet has it's high points and Teagan's three gold medal effort was special," added MacDonald. "Most importantly was that she had a mini-breakthrough in the 100m freestyle, getting under the 56 second barrier for the first time in awhile. That sets her up nicely for a potential run to the podium in front of our home crowd at the U SPORTS national championships in March."

Other winners for the women's team included Nina Mollin in both the 200m IM (2:18.34) and 200m breaststroke (2:34.20), Angel Yao in the 200m butterfly (2:17.94), Tina Guan in the 50m breaststroke (33.82), and Teagan McKenzie in the 200m freestyle (2:03.99).

On the men's side, fourth-year backstroker Brendan Oswald picked up a pair of first place results, claiming the top spot in both the 200m backstroke (2:01.12) and 100m IM (57.26).

"What was important about Brendan's wins were they were so fast," said MacDonald. "And this is coming back from surgical repair to both his elbows. Yet, he did his rehab and in the 2023-24 season swam his way into the finals at the national championship and now is so committed to this seasons that he is locked in and ready for when we host the national championships in early March."

Also winning a pair of events on the day for the Blues, Ben Loewen took first in both the 200m IM (2:03.15) and 50m butterfly (24.75). Solo wins were aplenty with Carter Buck taking the 50m backstroke (25.40), Quinn Matteis leading the 1500m freestyle (15:52.73), Jacob Gallant winning the 200m breaststroke(2:13.23), Liam Weaver speeding through the 50m freestyle (22.56), and first-year standout Albert Bouley placing first in the 100m freestyle (49.96).

Tomorrow (Jan. 19) Varsity Pool will serve as host for the annual U of T Winter Invitational before the Blues conclude their preparations with the Toronto Grand Prix at the Athletic Centre on Jan. 24-25. The Grand Prix will welcome some of the top swimmers from across Ontario and Quebec, while serving as the final event before the OUA Swimming Championships at Markam Pan Am Centre from Feb. 7-9.