University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's swimming standouts Ben Loewen and Liam Weaver have been selected to represent Canada at the 2025 FISU Summer World University Games, July 16-27, in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany.
A third-year commerce major from Toronto, Loewen is the reigning OUA men's swimmer of the year after winning five gold medals at the 2025 conference championships, four of which came in OUA-record time. He followed that up by earning U SPORTS second team all-Canadian honours with two silver-medal finishes in the 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly, as well as a bronze-medal finish in the 100 backstroke, at the 2025 U SPORTS championships at Varsity Pool. He is coming off a bronze-medal finish in the 200 butterfly at the 2025 Bell Canadian Swimming Trials earlier this month.
Weaver, a fourth-year mathematics and physical sciences major from Calgary, won his second career OUA 50 freestyle title at the 2025 conference championships. The four-time OUA all-star also claimed national bronze in the 50 freestyle as the Blues hosted the 2025 U SPORTS championships in March.
Team Canada is making its return to the FISU Summer World University Games, after missing the 2023 event. While the 2025 games will be staged primarily in the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region of Germany, swimming will take place in Berlin from July 17-23. Canada has won 106 medals (24 gold, 32 silver and 50 bronze) in swimming overall, the most for any sport.
The squad will be headed by team leaders Martin Gingras (Baie d'Urfé, Que.) and Bette El-Hawary (Halifax, N.S.) and coached by Chrystèle Roy-L'Écuyer (Montréal / Greenfield Park, Que.). Gingras is the national coach of the Swimming Canada Olympic program, while Roy-L'Écuyer was on the national team coaching staff at last year's 25-metre world championships.
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