By Dave Smith
Motivated by a hometown crowd of about 30 people, Ryerson’s swim team sunk the Trent University Excalibur in a head-to-head competition on the weekend.
The men’s team swam to a 128-69 win at the first meet held at the school in more than a decade, raising its OUA regular season record to 2-0 — its best start in recent memory. Ryerson won all but two of the meet’s 12 races for men. The women’s team’s 100-84 win over Trent brought its OUA record to 1-1.
“We used to just get out there and swim,” said men’s captain Jay Lim. “But now we’re challenging for points, which is a testament to our coaching.”
When coach Victor Delac took over three years, he said there was no swimming tradition at Ryerson. To change that he aimed to begin hosting events.
“Of course,” he said, “You need to be able to win at home if you want to host.”
Judy Ditner helped take care of that, earning 21 points by winning all three of her events — the 50- and the 100-metre butterflies and the 50-metres backstroke. She also contributed to wins by the Rams’ four-by-100 and four-by-50 metre relay teams, which also featured Michelle Carreau, Amy Simpson and Janine Triller.
“It’s exciting,” Ditner said after the meet, “Swimming in your own pool with the fan cheering you on.”
Powering the men’s team was David Quane, a third-year aerospace engineering student, who won the 50-metre backstroke and the 200-metre individual medley. He also helped Paul Williams, Clay Reynolds and Chris Nightingale win the two relay events.
The Rams hit the pool again for an invitational meet, hosted by the University of Toronto, Saturday, Nov. 18.
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