Program history was made at the Eleanor Misener Aquatic Centre. 

The Brock Badgers women's team reigned supreme over five other schools as they captured their first-ever Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Dean Boles Divisional Championship on Sunday, Nov. 24. 

With a total of 912.5 points, the Badgers finished comfortably ahead of the Guelph Gryphons who had 824. The Laurier Golden Hawks had 736 for third place. 

"I'm very proud of the women's team," said Brock swimming head coach Dave Ling. "It was a roller coaster of a day trading the lead with a very talented Guelph team.  It came down to the final few events before we were able to pull away." 

By winning the overall championship with a score of 1,892 and taking home both titles, the Badgers will move up to the top division next season, competing at the Merrily Stratten Divisional Championships. 

"Last year following divisionals, we set a goal as a team to win both sides of this year's meet," Ling added. "It was an aggressive goal, and it feels really good to see that come to fruition." 

In total, the Badgers women won 19 medals (nine gold, four silver, six bronze). 

Setting four new school records, Tatum O'Connor had an impressive meet as she finished with a total of four gold medals and two second-place finishes. 

O'Connor set two new individual school records in the 50-metre backstroke with a time of 28 seconds and in the 100-metre backstroke as she touched the wall in 1 minute and 88 milliseconds, with the former earning her a Dean Boles Divisional Championship record.

The Dundas, ON product was also part of two relay teams that broke school records. The first came from the 4x50m freestyle relay team with Grace Chai, Quinn Mersereau and Pearl Publow as they won gold with a time of 1:44.91, setting a new Dean Boles Divisional Championship record. 

O'Connor and Chai also set a school record in the women's 4x50m medley relay (1:56.93) along with teammates Adriana Martone and Bella Seabrook en route to a silver medal. 

On top of the new school records in the relays, Chai also had a strong weekend in the individual events, winning gold medals in the 50m breaststroke (32.88), 100m breaststroke (1:11.17) and 100m freestyle (56.87), while adding a silver in the 50m freestyle (26.26). Her performance in the 100m breaststroke event broke a school record. 

The other individual gold medal was captured by Martone who bested all challengers in the 200m breaststroke (2:39.83). 

Mersereau won another gold medal in the relays, winning the 4x100m freestyle event with Pearl Publow, Kendra Hussey and Taylor Sauve as they finished in a time of 3:59.87. 

Ling is thankful for all the people behind the scenes who made this weekend a success. 

"A lot of thanks goes out to the amazing people who have invested in our program," he said. "Isaac Seabrook and his team of Brock Sports Performance students were here all weekend and continue to push our program forward while Karen Millar and her Brock Sports Medicine team are amazing and keep us healthy.  We are also fortunate to have support from Carley Jewell on the mental performance end." 

Up next, the Badgers host the Brock Invitational in the new year on Sunday, Jan. 12 at the Eleanor Misener Aquatic Centre.

2024 DEAN BOLES DIVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WOMEN'S STANDINGS 
1 Brock, 912.5 
2 Guelph, 824 
3 Laurier, 736 
4 Queen's, 551.5 
5 Carleton, 160 
6 York, 126 

2024 DEAN BOLES DIVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OVERALL STANDINGS 
1 Brock, 1,892 
2 Laurier, 1,670 
3 Guelph, 1,288.5 
4 Queen's, 810.5 
5 Carleton, 587 
6 York, 400 

2024 DEAN BOLES DIVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WOMEN'S RESULTS
Women's 4x50m Freestyle Relay 
1 Brock (Tatum O'Connor, Grace Chai, Quinn Mersereau, Pearl Publow), 1:44.91 DEAN BOLES DIVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD, SCHOOL RECORD 
2 Laurier (Peyton Croteau, Morgan Pequin, Simrit Grewal, Olivia Francis), 148.85 
3 Guelph (Emily Vangel, Isabelle Robert, Lauren Anthony, Marcela Hontoria Arroyo), 1:49.75 

Women's 400m IM 
1 Samantha Peace (Guelph), 4:59.71 
2 Alanna Casasanta (Guelph), 5:10.30 
3 Jayden MacDonald (Queen's), 5:11.65 

Women's 50m Backstroke 
1 Tatum O'Connor (Brock), 28.00 U SPORTS QUALIFIER, SCHOOL RECORD 
2 Ashley Hodge (Guelph), 29.83 
3 Mia Frederiksen (Brock), 30.24 

Women's 200m Freestyle 
1 Liz Greaves (Guelph), 2:05.36 
2 Jessica Schwindt (Guelph), 2:07.45 
3 Marcela Hontoria Arroyo (Guelph), 2:10.02 

Women's 100m Butterfly 
1 Ali Bertrim (Guelph), 1:01.74 U SPORTS QUALIFIER 
2 Lauren Anthony (Guelph), 1:04.45 
3 Katie Cosgriffe (Laurier), 1:06.02 

Women's 100m Breaststroke 
1 Grace Chai (Brock), 1:11.17 U SPORTS QUALIFIER, SCHOOL RECORD 
2 Hannah Nordquist (Guelph), 1:12.86 
3 Adriana Martone (Brock), 1:12.92 

Women's 200m Backstroke 
1 Alanna Casasanta (Guelph), 2:16.07 
2 Jessica Schwindt (Guelph), 2:20.22 
3 Samantha Peace (Guelph), 2:23.27 

Women's 50m Freestyle 
1 Tatum O'Connor (Brock), 26.06 DEAN BOLES DIVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD, U SPORTS QUALIFIER 
2 Grace Chai (Brock), 26.26 U SPORTS QUALIFIER 
3 Quinn Mersereau (Brock), 26.61 

Women's 800m Freestyle 
1 Liz Greaves (Guelph), 9:11.37 
2 Jessica Schwindt (Guelph), 9:24.73 
3 Sydney Peace (Brock), 9:34.42 

Women's 4x50m Medley Relay 
1 Guelph (Alanna Casasanta, Hannah Nordquist, Ali Bertrim, Liz Greaves), 1:56.61 
2 Brock (Tatum O'Connor, Adriana Martone, Bella Seabrook, Grace Chai), 1:56.93 SCHOOL RECORD 
3 Laurier (Emma Young, Abby Marshall, Katie Cosgriffe, Alyse Borges), 2:01.59 

Women's 200m IM 
1 Alanna Casasanta (Guelph), 2:23.34 
2 Ali Bertrim (Guelph), 2:23.84 
3 Kimberly Song (Queen's), 2:26.01 

Women's 100m Freestyle 
1 Grace Chai (Brock), 56.87 SCHOOL RECORD 
2 Liz Greaves (Guelph), 58.38 
3 Quinn Mersereau (Brock), 58.57 

Women's 200m Butterfly 
1 Lauren Anthony (Guelph), 2:23.25 
2 Samantha Peace (Guelph), 2:26.18 
3 Megan Smith (Laurier), 2:30.89 

Women's 200m Breaststroke 
1 Adriana Martone (Brock), 2:39.83 
2 Hannah Nordquist (Guelph), 2:41.91 
3 Jayden Macdonald (Queen's), 2:43.73 

Women's 100m Backstroke 
1 Tatum O'Connor (Brock), 1:00.88 SCHOOL RECORD 
2 Alanna Casasanta (Guelph), 1:03.58 
3 Simrit Grewal (Laurier), 1:04.72 

Women's 50m Butterfly 
1 Ali Betrim (Guelph), 27.91 
2 Tatum O'Connor (Brock), 28.07 
3 Ashley Hodge (Guelph), 28.71 

Women's 50m Breaststroke 
1 Grace Chai (Brock), 32.88 SCHOOL RECORD 
2 Adriana Martone (Brock), 33.67 
3 Hannah Nordquist (Guelph), 33.72 

Women's 400m Freestyle 
1 Liz Greaves (Guelph), 4:26.26 
2 Jessica Schwindt (Guelph), 4:32.72 
3 Alexis Chisholm (Brock), 4:41.06 

Women's 4x100m, Freestyle Relay 
1 Brock (Quinn Mersereau, Pearl Publow, Kendra Hussey, Taylor Sauve), 3:59.87 
2 Queen's (Kimberly Song, Sophia Tran, Mackenna Riel, Taylor Bird), 4:01.26 
3 Laurier (Tara Tavoularis, Abby Marshall, Morgan Pequin, Olivia Francis), 4:02.14