The spotlight was on them and the pressure was mounting. “Put-up or shut-up time” had arrived and some handled the tension with ease, while others wilted from the heat.
On February 26 the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) swimming championships wrapped up in Laval, Quebec. The men’s team lived up to expectations by claiming the bronze medal, but the women’s team finished just shy of their goal to be on the podium, finishing in fourth place.
“The men’s team exceeded expectations with their Ontario University Athletics (OUA) gold and (CIS) bronze,” said Toronto head coach Byron MacDonald. “There was no question that the Western squad was the favourite in the OUA, and both Western and Laval or Montreal were favoured to top the Blues nationally. But, the Blues had some inspired swims and simply swam away from the rivals to do the job.”
“The women’s team was disappointed with their result at the CIS meet after an easy OUA title. They had set their sights on the silver team finish so fourth was a disappointment,” continued MacDonald. “There were some standout performances by many swimmers, but a goal is a goal-and the Blues wanted that team silver.”
The men’s team finished with a combined 349.5 points at the three-day event, placing them behind only UBC’s 711 and Calgary’s 434. Marco Monaco and Ian MacLeod each earned four medals and had many top-eight finishes, scoring valuable points for their squad.
MacDonald was extremely impressed by MacLeod’s performance at the national final. “A quiet leader, he nonetheless led with top swims as inspiration,” he said. “On the final night at the CIS championships he swam the grueling 1500m freestyle-an event he rarely swims-but both he and the coaches felt that he needed to swim it to score some extra valuable points for the team. He finished in the top eight to help ice the victory over Western for the bronze team finish.”
Veteran Jen Porenta and rookie sensation Sasha Theron were standouts for the women’s team in Laval. The former won bronze in the 50m freestyle final, while Theron and Porenta, along with teammates Kate Plyley and Marci Byron, won silver in both the 4x100m relay and the 4x200m relay.
Porenta was expected to have a good season this year after a strong 2004-2006 campaign, but Theron seemingly came out of nowhere to become a powerful force on both the provincial and national scenes this year. The first-year arts and science student was able to compete with the best swimmers in the country, even though she is only one year removed from her high school team and many of her opponents are seasoned veterans.
“In her first year, Sasha improved a great deal over her grade 12 performances and vaulted into the spotlight,” said MacDonald about his young star. “Combining with third-year standout Jennifer Porenta, they gave the Blues a top one-two punch-one that enabled the Blues to pick up relay medals at the nationals and cruise to gold at the Ontario championship.”
UBC, Calgary, and host Laval finished ahead of Toronto at the CIS championship. The Blues were only 34.5 points behind Laval for the bronze medal.
MacDonald says that unfortunate circumstances were a major factor in the women’s team’s non-podium result: “A series of tough breaks, including sickness and disqualifications, set the Blues back and they never really recovered.”
