It was a program-defining competition for the Brock Badgers women's swimming team.
The seven medals are a milestone in the modern era for the Badgers as they finished sixth at the 2025 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Swimming Championships at the Markham Pan Am Centre in Unionville, ON.
The Toronto Varsity Blues finished first with 857 points while the Western Mustangs were second with 719. The hosting McMaster Marauders placed third with 560 points as 10 teams competed in the competition from Friday, Feb. 7 to Feb. 9.
"This was a fun weekend for our Badgers women. We outperformed our results from 2024, we added another U SPORTS qualifier, new medalists, a new OUA Champion, new finalists, and a complete team effort from the first event to the last," said head coach Dave Ling. "I'm proud of this team, and I'm grateful to our support team led by Isaac Seabrook, Karen Millar and Carley Jewell. This is now a new high for our program to regularly aspire to moving forward."
Tatum O'Connor had a standout performance, winning three gold medals and a silver in her second OUA Championships appearance. This marks the first time the Badgers have had an OUA champion in an individual race since 2003.
On the first night, the Dundas, ON product won the 50-metre backstroke event with a time of 27 seconds and 87 milliseconds, which also qualified her for the national championships. She followed it up with two medals the next night with a first-place finish in the 100m backstroke (59.60) and second in the 50m butterfly (27.14). Both results qualified her for U SPORTS Championships and the Canadian Trials and all three broke previous school records.
The second-year swimmer capped off her sensational weekend with a gold medal in the 4x50m medley relay with teammates Grace Chai, Kendra Hussey and Adriana Martone with a time of 1:54.28 which was also a new Brock record.
Both Chai and Martone were making their provincial debuts and earned multiple medals.
Chai captured silver medals in the 100m breaststroke (1:10.88) and 100m freestyle (56.13), with the former qualifying her for the national championships and both times setting new school records.
Her time in the 200m IM of 2:19.34 also got her a U SPORTS qualifying time and Brock record, while Martone also earned a spot at the U SPORTS Championships with a time of 32.92 in the 50m breaststroke which gave her a bronze medal. The Barrie native also placed sixth in the 200m breaststroke (2:38.88).
The 4x50m freestyle team of Chai, O'Connor, Quinn Mersereau and Pearl Publow came fourth with a time of 1:44.73 while O'Connor, Martone, Morgan Chrysler and Taylor Sauve set a Brock record of 4:22.24 in the 4x100 medley while placing sixth.
Mersereau also qualified for the U SPORTS Championships with an individual time of 26.29 in the 4x50m freestyle relay.
Gwen Creskey won the B final to place ninth overall in the 50m backstroke event, touching the wall in 29.81 and added a tenth-place finish in the 100m backstroke (1:04.45). The Badgers saw four other B final appearances.
At the end of the competition, Brock head coach Dave Ling was named Female Coach of the Year.
Those who have qualified now have their eyes set on the U SPORTS Swimming Championships at the Athletic Centre Varsity Pool in Toronto from March 6-8.
WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
OUA Swimmer of the Year
Nina Mollin, Toronto
OUA Coach of the Year
Dave Ling, Brock & Grey Fairley, McMaster
Rookie of the Year
Zei Wetzlaugk, Western
Dr. Jeno Tehani Individual Medley Award
Nina Mollin, Toronto
Student-Athlete Community Service Award
Kate Netherton, Waterloo
Awards of Distinction
*Awarded to individuals who have medaled at three or more OUA Championships*
Tina Guan, Toronto
Shona Branton, Western
WOMEN'S STANDINGS AT THE 2025 OUA CHAMPIONSHIPS
1. Toronto, 857.0
2. Western, 719.0
3. McMaster, 560.0
4. Guelph, 442.5
5. Waterloo, 432.5
6. Brock, 319.0
7. Laurier, 178.0
8. Queen's, 114.0
9. York, 94.0
10. Carleton, 90.0
WOMEN'S MEDALLISTS AT THE 2025 OUA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Day 1
4x50m Freestyle Relay
1. Toronto 1:42.77
(Teagan Vander Leek, Gemma Norman, Angelica Bath, Kayla Houlder)
2. Western 1:43.37
(Zae Wetzlaugk, Leah Butler, Chloe Baker, Katie Graboski)
3. McMaster 1:44.35
(Chizam Nkechika, Amy Tian, Amila Skula, Shaunna Walker-Dejong)
200m Freestyle
1. Katie Marovino, Toronto, 2:00.93
2. Danie Treasure, Western, Keira Brazeau, Western, 2:01.47
3. Liz Greaves, Guelph, 2:01.79
100m Breaststroke
1. Tina Guan, Toronto, 1:10.80
3. Nicole Lau, Waterloo, 1:11.48
100m Butterfly
1. Hannah Gallagher, Waterloo, 1:00.41
2. Sydney Stewart, Toronto, 1:00.75
3. Ali Bertrim, Guelph, 1:01.03
50m Backstroke
1. Tatum O'Connor, Brock, 27.87
2. Leah Butler, Western, 28.46
3. Angelica Bath, Toronto, 28.68
400m IM
1. Nina Mollin, Toronto, 4:44.60
2. Robin Vadeika, Western, 4:53.56
3. Sydney Stewart, Toronto, 4:54.57
4x100m Medley Relay
1. Toronto, 4:12.88
(Teagan McKenzie, Tina Guan, Angel Yao, Katie Marovino)
2. Guelph, 4:13.23
(Alanna Casasanta, Hannah Nordquist, Ali Bertrim, Liz Greaves)
3. Western, 4:14.63
(Hannah Estabrooks, Lauren Leung, Gabriella Casasanta, Isabella Howes)
Day 2
50m Freestyle
1. Teagan Vander Leek, Toronto, 25.40
2. Zea Wetzlaugk, Western, 25.53
3. Shaunna Walker-Dejong, McMaster, 25.89
200m Breaststroke
1. Nina Mollin, Toronto, 2:32.34
2. Tina Guan, Toronto, 2:33.69
3. Sydney Winokur, Toronto, 2:34.40
400m Freestyle
1. Katie Marovino, Toronto, 4:16.83
2. Danielle Treasure, Western, 4:17.97
3. Robin Vadeika, Western, 4:22.05
100m Backstroke
1. Tatum O'Connor, Brock, 59.60
2. Angelica Bath, Toronto, 1:01.27
3. Hannah Estabrooks, Western, 1:02.13
200m Medley
1. Nina Mollin, Toronto, 2:13.99
2. Sydney Stewart, Toronto, 2:17.65
3. Teagan Vander Leek, Toronto, 2:18.06
50m Butterfly
1. Michelle Wang, McMaster, 26.80
2. Tatum O'Connor, Brock, 27.14
3. Hannah Gallagher, Waterloo, 27.47
4x200m Freestyle Relay
1. Western (Hannah Estabrooks, Heidi Bartoch, Robin Vadeika, Danielle Treasure), 8:15.95
2. Toronto (Yolanda Zhang, Teagan McKenzie, Gemma Norman, Katie Marovino), 8:18.90
3. Guelph (Jessica Schwindt, Lauren Anthony, Holly Nickerson, Liz Greaves), 8:25.94
Day 3
4x50m Medley Relay
1. Brock (Tatum O'Connor, Adriana Martone, Kendra Hussey, Grace Chai), 1:54.28
2. McMaster (Mikaela Blake, Sara Gray, Michelle Wang, Shaunna Walker-Dejong), 1:54.52
3. Guelph (Alanna Casasanta, Hannah Nordquist, Ali Bertrim, Ashley Hodge), 1:55.82
200m Butterfly
1. Nina Mollin, Toronto, 2:12.39
2. Sydney Stewart, Toronto, 2:16.13
3. Angel Yao, Toronto, 2:16.22
100m Freestyle
1. Teagan Vander Leek, Toronto, 56.09
2. Grace Chai, Brock, 56.13
3. Zea Wetzlaugk, Western, 56.35
50m Breaststroke
1. Nicole Lau, Waterloo, 32.30
2. Kaelyn Kelly, Waterloo, 32.86
3. Adriana Martone, Brock, 32.92
200m Backstroke
1. Angelica Bath, Toronto, 2:11.32
2. Hannah Estabrooks, Western, 2:13.17
3. Alanna Casasanta, Guelph, 2:14.86
800m Freestyle
1. Katie Marovino, Toronto, 8:49.74
2. Danielle Treasure, Western, 8:57.56
3. Megan Frost, Waterloo, 9:03.87
4x100m Freestyle Relay
1. Toronto (Kayla Houlder, Nina Mollin, Sydney Stewart, Teagan Vander Leek), 3:45.82
2. Western (Isabella Howes, Gabriella Casasanta, Zea Wetzlaugk, Danielle Treasure), 3:46.10
3. McMaster (Shaunna Walker-Dejong, Andie Lloyd, Michelle Wang, Naeva Scott Bouris), 3:52.92
