Photo by Richard Whittaker
Gee-Gees swimmers took home a total of 14 medals at the three-day Ontario University Athletics (OUA) swimming championships at Brock University this weekend.
The men’s and women’s squads also capped off the event ranked fourth and fifth place overall, respectively.
The Gee-Gees began Thursday, Feb. 6, with six medals, including two relay medals and four individual performance medals. Adding to the silvers and bronzes were 21 personal bests from our athletes and seven additional qualifiers for the Canadian Interuniversity Sports’ (CIS) finals.
The first medalist of the evening was first-year rookie Neeley Arnott, who placed second in the 100-metre backstroke with a time of 1 minute 3 seconds 26 milliseconds. In an odd twist, fourth-year Gee-Gee Taylor Moore swam the 100-metre backstroke in 1 minute 2 seconds 21 millisecond in the B finals, which would have earned her gold in the A finals.
The men’s 100-metre backstroke finals was equally riveting, with a second-place performance from fifth-year veteran Adam Best and third-place performance from second-year Robert Bonomo. The two were separated by only 3 milliseconds.
The relay wins for both the men and the women was in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, in which the Gee-Gees secured two bronze medals.
The swim team secured another five medals on Friday, Feb. 7, allowing the women’s team to move up the rankings into fourth place for the day. This left the Gee-Gees with a grand total of 11 medals.
The Gee-Gees medals for the evening began with fourth-year Eryn Weldon’s performance in the 200-metre individual medley (IM), who placed second once again to the University of Toronto’s Vanessa Treasure, despite having the fastest final lap of the heat.
Other medaling heats included second-year Robert Bonomo’s second place in the 200-metre backstroke, fourth-year Taylor Moore’s third place in the 200-metre backstroke, first-year Caitlin Hodge’s second place in the 800-metre freestyle, and the women’s team’s third-place finish in the 400-metre IM.
The Gee-Gees gained three more medals on Saturday, Feb. 8. For the women’s team, first-year Neeley Arnott picked up her third medal of the competition, placing second in 50-metre backstroke with a time of 29 seconds 78 milliseconds.
Fourth-year Eryn Weldon once again placed second behind University of Toronto’s Vanessa Treasure, this time in the 400-metre individual medley (IM).
For the men’s team, second-year Robert Bonomo won bronze in the 400-metre IM with a time of 4 minutes 24 seconds 85 milliseconds, losing the silver to the Warriors’ Graeme Kemp by 34 milliseconds.
In the 50-metre backstroke, the U of T’s Matthew Myers beat Best out for bronze by 8 milliseconds. Best, who won two medals in the competition, was also recognized with a Graduating Athlete Award of Distinction.
Hodge ended the competition with two medals and six appearances in the finals, and was named OUA Female Rookie of the Year,
The swim team will compete next at the CIS Championships hosted by the U of T on Feb. 20–22.
Gee-Gees winning times
Women’s 100m backstroke finals:
Neeley Arnott – 2nd – 1:03.26
Men’s 100m backstroke finals:
Adam Best – 2nd – 55.31
Robert Bonomo – 3rd – 55.34
Women’s 200m breaststroke finals:
Eryn Weldon – 2nd – 2:31.39
Women’s 4x200m freestyle relay finals:
Weldon, Lachance, Hodge, Moore – 3rd – 8:21.95
Men’s 4x200m freestyle relay finals:
Bonomo, Best, Baylon, Ruksys – 3rd – 7:30.60
Women’s 200m IM finals:
Eryn Weldon – 2nd – 2:14.72
Women’s 200m backstroke finals:
Taylor Moore – 3rd – 2:11.35
Men’s 200m backstroke finals:
Robert Bonomo – 2nd – 1:59.04
Women’s 800m freestyle finals:
Caitlin Hodge – 2nd – 8:50.66
Women’s 400m medley relay finals:
Arnott, Weldon, Smith, Moore – 3rd – 4:18.78
Women’s 50m backstroke finals:
Neeley Arnott – 2nd – 29.78
Women’s 400m individual medley finals:
Eryn Weldon – 2nd – 4:44.50
Men’s 400m individual medley finals:
Robert Bonomo – 3rd – 4:24.85
