The University of Toronto Varsity Blues swimming teams hosted OUA competitors inside the Athletic Centre – Varsity Pool for the annual U of T Winter Invitational this weekend.

"We don't score this one so for the over 300 swimmers from many OUA universities and surrounding clubs this is a prep meet and a fun meet," said Varsity Blues swimming head coach Byron MacDonald. "For us, prepping to get ready for our two very important meets next weekend; and fun because there was no scoring so many of the swimmers chose events they never get to race during the year."

WOMEN'S RESULTS
In the first event of the day, Abbi Bahler outraced her teammates to win the 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:14.12. Julie Nolan-McCarthy grabbed first in the 100m breaststroke touching the wall in 1:09.40. Maria Cosic grabbed a third gold medal on the day for U of T, posting the fastest time of 1:01.95 in the 100m butterfly. Nolan-McCarthy added a second to her total winning the 200m IM in 2:17.38, while Cosic also earned another with a 27.62 time in the 50m butterfly.

MEN'S RESULTS
Nathan Thomas earned the first gold medal of the day for the U of T men, touching the wall in 1:02.48 in the 100m breaststroke. Michael Sava placed first in the 200m butterfly with a time of 2:02.23. The first place finishes continued with Ben Loewen winning the 50m backstroke in 25.86. Carter Buck earned gold with a first place time of 4:29.75 in the 400m IM. Andrew Herman became the fifth Blue to claim gold winning the 100m butterfly in 55.96. First-year standout Elijah Daley took first in the 100m backstroke with a time of 55.85. Loewen added a second to his day winning the 200m freestyle in 1:51.06. In a stacked field for the 50m butterfly, Bill Dongfang posted the top time of 25.16. The final gold of the day came courtesy Connor Macdonald in the 400m freestyle posting a time of 4:09.65.

Next up for the Varsity Blues will be a quad meet featuring the Calgary Dinos, Western Mustangs, and RSEQ All-Stars. Toronto host the top programs on Friday, Jan. 23 inside the Athletic Centre – Varsity Pool with the action set to begin at 4 p.m.