The University of Toronto hosted the Canada Cup this past weekend at Varsity Pool. After finishing on top at the seventh annual University Challenge Cup on November 21, the Blues men’s and women’s swim teams took advantage of their momentum, finishing the weekend with a total of 12 medals.
On the first day of the Canada Cup, the Blues picked up two gold medals. The first was earned by Zach Chetrat who dominated the men’s 200-metre fly. He clocked in at 1:55.67, nearly one second ahead of the second place competitor David Sharpe of Dalhousie University.
Frank Despond picked up the Blues’ second gold medal of the day in the men’s 400-metre free, tying with Western’s Robert Wise. Despond finished with a time of 3:48.00, a significant jump from his 3:55.35 time in the preliminaries.
The women’s team also brought their best on day one. Vanessa Treasure swam her way to a silver medal in the Women’s 200-metre individual medley (IM). Paige Schultz, who earned gold medals in both the women’s 100-metre free and women’s 100-metre individual medley (IM) on November 21, picked up two more medals on day one of the Canada Cup: silver in the women’s 200-metre IM, and bronze in the women’s 200-metre free.
The Blues won seven more medals on day two. After placing fourth in the men’s 100-metre free and men’s 50-metre breaststroke, Chris Manning picked up his first and only gold medal of the meet in the men’s 50-metre free with a time of 22:13 even better than his U of T record-breaking time of 22:31.
Matt Myers also picked up a gold medal on the second day of competition in the men’s 200-metre backstroke, finishing with a time of 1:55.74. Edward Liu placed second in the men’s 100-metre fly, clocking in at 52:87. Hochan Ryu also added to the medal count earning a bronze medal in the men’s 200-metre fly with a time of 2:02.26.
Paige Schultz continued to demonstrate her skill and versatility on day two of the Canada Cup, earning two more medals. She finished the women’s 100-metre free with a time of 54.96, taking the bronze medal in that event. She ended her appearance at the Canada Cup with a gold medal in the women’s 100-metre IM, clocking in at 1:01.55.
Schultz was not the only woman to secure a gold medal at this meet. Treasure also earned a gold in the women’s 400-metre im, with a time of 4:41.37.
To top off this weekend’s successful meet, Zack Chetrat won the male swim of the meet for his 200-metre fly on day one.
U of T is set to host both the Ontario University Athletics Swimming Championships and Canadian Intercollegiate Sport Swimming Championships in February.
