Successful season in the pool comes to a close for teams in Quebec City
Fourth-year standout Robert Bonomo swam his way to an impressive two medals last weekend at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Swimming Championships. Bonomo led the way in what was collectively an admirable Gee-Gees showing at the tournament—and an all-time best performance on the men’s side.
The best swimmers in the nation assembled at Université Laval in Quebec City on Feb. 26-28 for the nationwide championship tournament.
Although they were unable to compete with the powerhouse University of Toronto Varsity Blues—who claimed first place in the tournament in both men’s and women’s—the Gee-Gees held their own in the contest, due in large part to Bonomo’s fine efforts.
On Saturday, day two of the tournament, Bonomo earned a bronze medal in the men’s 50m freestyle event with a time of 23.35s, only a second behind UBC’s Oleksandr Loginov who earned gold and set a CIS Championship record with a time of 22.63s.
Bonomo is no stranger to success in the 50m freestyle, having set a Gee-Gees record in the same event at the Ontario University Athletics tournament two weeks prior.
The bronze medal marked the third of Bonomo’s career in as many CIS Championship appearances.
On the following day, the last of the tournament, Bonomo looked to continue his impressive showing. He earned bronze again, this time in the men’s 100m freestyle, with a time of 51.26s, marking his second medal of the tournament and fourth of his now-decorated career.
It wasn’t all Bonomo for the Gees in Quebec City though, his teammates, Montana Champagne of the men’s and Audrey Prayal-Brown of the women’s side, each placed fifth in their respective events—Champagne in the 200m individual medley and Prayal-Brown in the 50m breaststroke.
Bonomo, alongside Champagne, Prayal-Brown, and the rest of the Gee-Gees swimmers helped University of Ottawa finish the tournament ninth in the men’s standing—matching a Gee-Gees record set in 2015—and thirteenth in the women’s.
This draws a successful year for the Gee-Gees to a close, as both men’s and women’s squads are improving and placing among the nation’s elite. Swimmers will return to Montpetit Hall in the fall in hopes of building on this year, in pursuit of even higher honours come next season.
