Tatum O'Connor helped break a 23-year drought for the Brock Badgers swimming program. 

O'Connor and five other teammates represented the Badgers men's and women's swim teams at the 2025 U SPORTS Championships at the Varsity Centre Pool in Toronto from Thursday, March 6 to Saturday, March 8. 

The Dundas, ON product had a great start to the competition, earning her first of two national medals on the weekend on Day 1. 

O'Connor helped earn the first national finish for Brock since Ian Young accomplished the feat when he earned a second-place finish in the men's 50m freestyle in 2002. 

In the 50-metre backstroke event, O'Connor touched the wall in 27 seconds and 65 milliseconds to place third. 

She then followed it up with a second national medal on Friday, March 7, capturing third in the 100m backstroke in a time of 1:00.31, which was just five milliseconds off Hannah Johnsen of the Calgary Dinos who finished second. 


O'Connor pictured in the 50m backstroke podium (left) and the 100m backstroke podium (right).

That same night, O'Connor just missed out on another national medal, taking home a fourth-place finish in the 50m butterfly (27.40). 

"This week was a very nice step forward for our swim program.  Tatum is one of the best swimmers in U SPORTS and her two medals are indicative of the effort and focus she's put in this season," said head coach Dave Ling. "She is leading our women's team to be very close to being a Top 10 program in the country and her young teammates (Adriana, Grace, Quinn) all have their best swimming in front of them.

The Badgers saw multiple first-year athletes make impactful U SPORTS debuts. 

Grace Chai competed in three B finals over the weekend while Camren Courchene-Carter qualified for two. 

Chai's best finish came in the 100m freestyle event where she placed third in the B final and 11th overall with a time of 56.47. She also finished fourth (12th overall) and sixth (14th overall) in the 50m freestyle (26.04) and 200m IM (2:21.26) events. 

On the men's side, Courchene-Carter also earned a third-place result (11th overall) in a B final, finishing the 50m breaststroke in a time of 28.06. The local St. Catharines product also finished sixth (14th overall) in the 100m breaststroke (1:01.60). 

The other Badgers who qualified for the U SPORTS Championships were Jared Banta, Adriana Martone, Quinn Mersereau who all gained valuable experience.

"Camren Courchene-Carter led our men's effort,  and he's on the verge of being one of the best breaststrokers in the country while Jared nearly scored points with a gutsy effort in the 1500m freestyle," Ling said.

Sweeping the championships, the UBC Thunderbirds won both divisions in commanding performances. The Calgary Dinos placed third on both sides while the host Toronto Varsity Blues captured second in the men's competition while the McGill Martlets earned silver in the women's standings.

Ling reflected on what this weekend meant for the program.

"In all, our swim program is headed in the right direction. The support we are receiving from the fantastic group at Brock Sports Performance led by Isaac Seabrook and Brock Sports Medicine led by Karen Millar is helping lift our teams," he said. " We are happy to celebrate the successes of the Dean Boles Divisional Championships, the OUA Championships and now U SPORTS and soon we will look forward and try and build to even bigger things to come."