The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's and women's swimming teams reached eight combined podiums on Day 1 of the 2025 U SPORTS Swimming National Championships inside the Athletic Centre - Varsity Pool on Thursday (Mar. 6) night.

The Toronto men currently sit in second-place in the overall team standings accumulating 348.5 points on the first day of competition, behind the UBC Thunderbirds at 411.5. Meanwhile, the U of T women rank fourth with 180 points scored through the first six events of the competition, with the McGill Martlets just ahead in third at 255.

Competition continues Friday (Mar. 7) morning with prelims starting at 9:30 a.m. Evening finals will then take place beginning at 5:30 p.m. All races are available to watch via CBC Sports, while live results are here.

MEN'S RESULTS
The U of T men captured six total medals on Day 1, collecting three silver and three bronze through the first six events of the national championships on Thursday evening.

Opening the medal count with the 200m freestyle, the Varsity Blues held two spots on the podium. Bill Dongfang finished with a time of 1:47.07 for silver, while Ben Winterborn swam 1:47.55 for bronze.

2025 OUA male rookie of the year Nathan Thomas found himself earning his first U SPORTS medal in the100m Breaststroke. In a tight race that came down to the narrowest of margins, Thomas tied for bronze with UBC's Justice Migneault (59.60).

The U SPORTS 50m backstroke record, set in 2024 (24.03) by U of T's own Andrew Herman, was broken three times on Thursday. Herman first overtook his own record during prelims with a time of 23.85, then swam even faster in the event finals (23.74) to claim national bronze. Finlay Knox of UBC ultimately secured gold after he subsequently broke the record in the following prelim heat (23.62), and then again in the finals (23.39).

Competing at his fourth straight U SPORTS National Championships, Varsity Blues veteran Jacob Gallant added a silver in the 400 individual medley to the teams Day 1 haul. Gallant has earned a national medal in the event in each year, collecting silver this season with a time of 4:16.08.

Ending a successful day in the pool, the men added another silver medal in 4x100m freestyle relay. Following UBC who set a U SPORTS record (3:11.80), the crew of Herman, Winterborn, Liam Weaver, and Albert Bouley swam a time of 3:14.58, making a late surge into second-place.

WOMEN'S RESULTS
Highlighting Day 1 for the U of T women was Nina Mollin, who took home national gold for the second straight year in the 100m butterfly. The 2025 OUA female swimmer of the year touched the wall in an impressive time of 59.71 to earn herself first-place. With the newest addition to her career tally, Mollin now has eight U SPORTS national championship medals, six of them being gold.

"Honestly, I wasn't even thinking about that," said Mollin after about defending her title as 100m butterfly champion. "I was just trying to focus on breaking the minute mark for me, and trying to really race because this morning I was really just going through the motions, but tonight I wanted to race everyone around me. I was really happy!"

The women added a second medal of the day in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Following a good start from teammates Kayla Houlder, Gemma Norman, and Katie Marovino, a big push in the final leg, swam by Teagan Vander Leek, saw them propel into the bronze medal position (3:45.95).

TEAM STANDINGS *after Day 1
WOMEN
1. UBC, 565.0
2. Calgary, 318.0
3. McGill, 255.0
4. Toronto, 180.0
5. Alberta, 86.5
6. Western, 73.0
7. Lethbridge, 72.0
8. Laval, 71.0
9. McMaster, 70.0
10. Victoria, 63.0
11. Dalhousie, 61.0
12. Guelph, 69.0
13. Waterloo, 52.0
14. Ottawa, 49.5
15. Montreal, 47.0
16. Brock, 46.0
17. Manitoba, 39.0
18. Acadia, 37.0

MEN
1. UBC, 411.5
2. Toronto, 348.5
3. Calgary, 290.0
4. McGill, 246.0
5. Alberta, 136.0
6. Ottawa, 103.0
7. Victoria, 78.5
8. Western, 78.0
9. Waterloo, 61.0
10. Lethbridge, 53.0
11. York, 32.0
12. McMaster, 30.5
13. Laurier, 30.0
14. Laval, 29.0
14. Sherbrooke, 29.0
16. Regina, 26.0
17. Dalhousie, 24.0
18. Carleton, 20.0
18. Montreal, 20.0
20. Manitoba, 19.0
21. UNB, 14.0
22. Acadia, 13.0
22. Brock, 13.0
24. Memorial, 6.0
25. UQTR, 2.0

EVENT RESULTS
(W) 200M Freestyle  
1. Kayla Noelle Sanchez, UBC: 1:54.74 
2. Emma O'Croinin, UBC: 1:56.44 
3. Anna Dumont-Belanger, UBC: 1:59.13 

(M) 200M Freestyle 
1. Paul McKenzie, Alberta: 1:47.02 
2. Bill Dongfang, Toronto: 1:47.07 
3. Ben Winterborn, Toronto: 1:47.55 

(W) 100M Breaststroke 
1. Alexanne Lepage, Calgary: 1:05.79 
2. Eloise Allen, UBC: 1:07.41 
3. Romane Hereng, Montreal: 1:08.72 

(M) 100M Breaststroke 
1. Nicholas Duncan, Calgary: 59.38 
2. Hugo Lemesle, Ottawa: 59.48  
3. Nathan Thomas, Toronto: 59.60 
3. Justice Migneault, UBC: 59.60 

(W) 100M Butterfly 
1. Nina Mollin, Toronto: 59.71 
2. Una Borchgrevink, UBC: 1:00.03  
3. Brooklyn Weins, UBC: 1:00.67 

(M) 100M Butterfly 
1. Eric Ginzburg, York: 51.89 
2. Wells Ginzer, UBC: 52.53 
3. Thomas Mcdonald, Calgary: 52.76 

(W) 50M Backstroke 
1. Eloise Allen, UBC: 27.45 
2. Bridget Burton, UBC: 27.50 
3. Tatum Connor, Brock: 27.65 

(M) 50M Backstroke 
1. Finlay Knox, UBC: 23.39 – U SPORTS RECORD 
2. Blake Tierney, UBC: 23.74 
3. Andrew Herman: Toronto: 23.77 

(W) 400M Medley 
1. Alexanne Lepage, Calgary: 4:42.17 
2. Olivia Brendzan, Alberta: 4:43.53 
3. Emma Spence, UBC: 4:45.53 

(M) 400M Medley 
1. Tanner Cole, UBC: 4:13.67 
2. Jacob Gallant, Toronto: 4:16.08 
3. Hugh McNeill, UBC: 4:17.12 

(W) 400M Freestyle Relay 
1. UBC (Emma O'Croinin, Anna Dumont-Belanger, Bridget Burton, Kayla Noelle Sanchez): 3:37.78 
2. Calgary (Eliza Housman, Hannah Johnsen, Alexanne Lepage, Hannah Bennett): 3:44.54  
3. Toronto (Kayla Houlder, Gemma Norman, Katie Marovino, Teagan Vander Leek): 3:45.95 

(M) 400M Freestyle Relay 
1. UBC (Finlay Knox, Blake Tierney, Jake Gaunt, Joel Blanco): 3:11.80 – U SPORTS RECORD 
2. Toronto (Andrew Herman, Ben Winterborn, Liam Weaver, Albert Bouley): 3:14.58 
3. Calgary (Gibson Black, Stephen Calkins, Ethan Fast, Thomas Mcdonald): 3:15.40