Ontario Swimming Championships

Ontario Swimming Championships

This past weekend, Region of Waterloo Swim Club ventured on to their next Championship Meet of the winter competition window – Ontario Swimming Championships at the Toronto PAN AM Centre.  The Ontario Swimming Championships have the toughest qualification times of all three provincial meets, hosting the fastest age group athletes across Ontario including several provincial record holders. You can find the qualification standards on our website: https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/canrwsc/page/for-swimmers/standards

Historically this meet has produced several “above and beyond” moments, with Winter OSCs 2024 being no different.  We witnessed many Provincial Records across the competition, in both para and able-bodied events.  One of the more historic performances came from Huini Xu, an 11 year old girl from Markham Aquatic Club, who broke several of Summer McIntosh’s 11yr Ontario Records [100,200,400,800 free, 400 IM].  As special as this was for Huini and Markham Aquatic Club, Region of Waterloo Swim Club not only had the opportunity to race alongside, but show that we belong on the same stage!

ROW was represented by 9 athletes, some of which you should know:

• OSC Veterans - Le Anne D, Olivia G, Sophie R, Katherine S, Sunny X
• OSC first timers – Lucas LB, Nicolas W
• Para Pan AM representative Tyson M (&ROW Development coach w/TOPs and JD2)

And one which you might be less familiar with:

• World Championship representative of St. Vincent – Alex J, who trained with ROW through summer of 2023 before attending the World Championships in Japan.

ROW proceeded through the meet with a “Win or Learn” mentality.  Several races went exceptionally well, with personal bests and medals where other moments nerves and obstacles stood in the way.  It was exciting to witness athletes turnaround from a miss, learning from the experiences and progressing through the meet.  No race or experience was ever a waste of time, so long as we learned from our challenges. 

Day 1 – 1 & 2 for ROW in the 14yr Girls 100Bk, 5x medal haul & New Club Record!

• New Club Record & OJI Qualifier – Le Anne D – 50Bk as lead off for 4x50medley relay
• Medalists:
  • 100 Bk – Sunny X, GOLD; Le Anne D, SILVER – 14yr Girls
  • 50 Fr – Katherine S, SILVER – 13&U Girls
  • 800 Fr – Sunny X, BRONZE – 14yr Girls
  • 200 Fr – Tyson M, GOLD – Para Men
• Finalists (in addition to medals)
  • 50 Free – Olivia G 5^th – 14yr Girls

Day 2 – 100% PBs in 400IM & New Club Record 1500Free

• New Club Record – Sunny X – 1500Free LCM 13/14 Girls
• Medalists:
  • 1500 Fr - Sunny X, SILVER – 14yr Girls
  • 50 Fr – Tyson M, GOLD – Para Men
• Finalists
  • 200 Fr – Katherine S 10^th – 13&U Girls
  • 400IM – Sophie R 6^th, 13&U Girls; Sunny X 4^th, Le Anne D 8^th, 14yr Girls
  • 100 Fly – Sophie R 6^th – 13&U Girls
  • 4x100 Free Relay – 7^th – 15&U Girls – Katherine, Sunny, Le Anne, Olivia

Day 3 – Sophie R, making adjustments into finals for a 3 second (5 on the day) personal best!

• Medalists:
  • 200 Fly – Sophie R, BRONZE – 13&U Girls
  • 100 Fr – Tyson M, GOLD – Para Men
• Finalists:
  • 100 Free – Katherine S 9^th 13&U Girls, Olivia G 8^th 14yr Girls
  • 4x50 Free Relay – 8^th - 15&U Girls – Katherine, Sunny, Le Anne, Olivia

Day 4 – Rookie OSC Qualifier Makes 1^st Final! &Two more Gold Medals for ROW on final night

• Medalists:
  • 200 Bk - Sunny X, GOLD – 14yr Girls
  • 100 Bk – Tyson M, GOLD – Para Men
• Finalists:
  • 200 IM – Katherine S 7^th, 13&U Girls; Le Anne D 5^th, 14yr Girls
  • 200 Bk – Le Anne D 4^th, 14yr Girls; Lucas LB 7^th, 15yr Boys (1^st OSC Final!)
  • 4x100 Medley Relay – 9^th - 15&U Girls – Le Anne, Katherine, Sunny, Olivia

Ultimately ROW had a solid showing, against the best athletes in the province, finishing 16^th in the team scores (8^th on the medal count, 10^th on the women’s team score) with 11 medals across 9 athletes. 

We now look ahead to the Eastern Canadian Championships in Quebec City, where a portion of our qualifiers will race in one final competition in the winter window, with the remainder resetting into the 2^nd half of the season:

• Eastern Canadian Championships – March 21^st to March 24^th – Universite Laval, Quebec City
• Olympic Trials – May 13^th to May 19^th – Montreal, Quebec

Congratulations to ROW on a great Winter Competition Window – let’s continue to grow and make a push into the Spring!

#GOROWGO #ROWRISING #ROWNATION

AJ

OSC Summary:

• 2 New Club Records
  • Sunny X 1500 Free
  • Le Anne D 50 Back (New OJI Qualifier)
• Medals – 6 Golds, 3 Silvers, 2 Bronzes (11 total)
• Team Placing – 16^th
  • 8^th in the Medal standings
  • 10^th in the Women standings
• Female Swimmer of the Meet – Sophie R for 100% Personal Bests (prelims and finals)
• Male Swimmer of the Meet – Lucas LB for evolving throughout the meet into placement on day 4!