SWIM | Three Rookies Pickup Wins In Ottawa

One week after opening their season at home against the University of Ottawa and the NEOR All-Stars, the Voyageurs swim team had their first travel meet of the season when they headed to Ottawa on Friday, October 28th to face the Gee-Gees once again. Also joining them at the meet was Queens, Carleton and the Greater Ottawa Kingfish Swim Club.

Ottawa outscored LU by a fair margin on both the men's and women's sides, with the Laurentian men finishing 2nd overall with 95 points, just ahead of Queens who were 3rd with 84. Ottawa, who picked up some top end recruits this year and will be a contender at the OUA level, led the way with 239 points. The women finished 3rd overall with 130 points, behind Ottawa (190) and the Kingfish (136).

On the men's side, Samuel Boily-Dufour, Matt Schouten and David Ahong led the way for the Vees, each earning a pair of top-three finishes. Boily-Dufour, a first year athlete, was the lone event winner for the men, claiming the 100m backstroke in a time of 1:00.39. He also finished 3rd in the 50 freestyle. Schouten had a pair of runner-up finishes in the 50 free (23.75) and 100 free (52.64), and Ahong finished 2nd in the 100 fly (59.33) and 3rd in the 800 free (8:52.94).

Other top finishes included rookie Chris Eastick placing 4th in the 200 free, and third year Shaun Gordon claiming 5th in the 200 IM.

The men capped the meet with silver in both the 4x50 free and 4x50 medley relays, with only the Gee-Gees finishing ahead on both occasions.

First year athletes Cassandra Drescher and Francesca Zammit-Maempel, who both earned individual wins in just their second varsity competition, led the way for the women's team. Drescher claimed the 100 free (59.56) while Zammit-Maempel took the 100 fly (1:07.92). Drescher was also the only female to earn two top-three finishes, also taking 3rd in the 50 free (28.05).

Four others finished in the top-three, with Alex Langlois 3rd in the 200 back, Julie Langlois 2nd in the 50 free, Madeline Stever 3rd in the 200 breaststroke, and Simone Waller 3rd in the 800 free.

In the relays, the women had solid showings with 3rd and 4th finishes from their 'A' and "B' squads in the 4x50 free, and 3rd and 5th place finishes in the 4x50 medley.

The Voyageurs were slated to compete on Saturday across the Quebec border in Gatineau, but the meet was cancelled.

They return to action on November 26th and 27th, when they'll host the 2016 deBray Divisional Championships. The women are the two-time defending Divisional champions and will look to make it three in a row, while the men will try and upend the Waterloo Warriors, who have edged them out the last two years.