TORONTO, Ont. - The McMaster Marauders swimming team opened 2023 at the U of T Winter Invitational on Sunday afternoon at Varsity Pool.

The Marauder women and men placed first overall in the team competition. On the women's side, McMaster finished the event with 385 points, ahead of the second place Toronto Varsity Blues (343) while the men ended with 395.5 points ahead of both the Waterloo Warriors (384.5) and Guelph Gryphons (242).

FULL RESULTS

A fourth-year from Red Deer, Alta., Claire Halford was a force in the water on Sunday. She secured three medals, the most of any Marauder. Specializing in the breaststroke, the veteran swimmer completed the 50m Breaststroke in a time of 33.99, good for the bronze medal, and had a stellar performance in the 200m Breaststroke. Completing the race in 2:41.67, the human behaviour student touched first to secure the gold. Halford also competed in the 200m Backstroke, earning another gold, thanks to a 2:41.67 time. Naeva Scott Bouris (Victoria, B.C.) landed on the podium in both the 200m Butterfly (2:29.82) and the 200m Freestyle (2:08.59), earning a silver and bronze, respectively. Also earning two medals for the Marauders was Sydney Harrison (Stoney Creek, Ont.) who picked up two bronze medals, one in the 200m Backstroke (2:45.67) and another in the 200m Breaststroke (2:45.67). Third year nursing student, Heather Aylward (Milton, Ont.), earned the bronze with a time of 1:05.27 in the 100m Backstroke while teammate Michelle Wang (Port Elgin, Ont.) completed the 50m Butterfly in a time of 29.17 to secure the bronze.

For the men, Cam Johnsen (Thunder Bay, Ont.), a fourth-year studying arts and science, and Will Clarke (Toronto, Ont.), a second-year studying mechanical engineering, finished 1-2 in the 200m Breaststroke. Johnsen clocked a time of 2:19.29 with Clarke following right behind him (2:21.63). Clarke also picked up the silver in the 50m Breaststroke, finishing in a time of 30.28. Colin Campbell (Fergus, Ont.) raced to second place in the 100m Backstroke with a time of 59.89 while teammate Omar El Aref (Oakville, Ont.) also picked up the silver in the 200m Backstroke.

A second year economics student, Bijan Ziaian (Thornhill, Ont.) led the charge for the Marauders in the 100m Butterfly, earning the bronze with a time of 57.66. Kevin Baghdassarian (North York, Ont.) earned the Marauders' sixteenth medal of the day with a time of 1:58.23 in the 200m Freestyle.

In the 2023 opening meet, the Marauders proved to be an absolute force and will look to carry that momentum into the 2023 OUA Swimming Championships in February.

Next Up 

The Marauders will now prepare for the OUA Championships which will be hosted by the Western Mustangs from February 9-11.