The University of Toronto Varsity Blues swimming teams lead after Day 1 of the 2025 Merrily Stratten Divisional, hosted by Brock University inside the Eleanor Misener Aquatic Centre.

In a dominant opening day, the U of T women earned gold in six of nine total events. Earning multiple first place finishes, Nina Mollin claimed gold in the 400m IM before sharing gold with teammate Angel Yao with identical times of 1:00.77 in the 100m butterfly. Additional first place results were Natalie Hocevar in the 200m freestyle, Chloe Danks in the 100m breaststroke, Gemma Norman in the 50m freestyle, and Katie Marovino in the 800m freestyle. The team of Yao, Hocevar, Norman, and Teagan Vander Leek also claimed first in the 4x50m freestyle relay.

The U of T women tallied 466 total points on Day 1, leading Western in second place at 415 and Brock in third with 286.

For the men, U of T claimed gold in seven of nine events on the first day of competition. This included first place finishes for Elijah Daley in the 100m butterfly, Carter Buck in the 50m backstroke, Nathan Thomas in the 100m breaststroke, Andrew Herman in the 200m backstroke, Liam Weaver in the 50m freestyle, and Quinn Matteis in the 1500m freestyle. The team of Ben Winterborn, Raymond Duong, Stefan Elias, and Weaver also grabbed the top spot in the men's 4x50m freestyle relay.

The Toronto men sit atop the team standings with 425 points, followed by Western at 340 and McMaster at 332.

The 2025 Merrily Stratten Divisional Championship concludes tomorrow (Nov. 23) from the Eleanor Misener Aquatic Centre in St. Catharines.