Mac shatters swim records
The Marauders swim team broke records and reached the podium numerous times at the Tihanyi Division Championships on Nov. 16 and Nov. 17 at Ivor Wynne Centre.
The team finished second overall, just behind the Toronto Varsity Blues, and had several strong finishes and performances across the board.
One of the most notable finishes on the men’s team was from Eric Anderson – who managed to reach the podium a total of four times on the weekend, with three gold medal finishes and one silver medal.
Anderson also managed to break his own record that he set over a month ago at the OUA Sprint Invitational in the 50m backstroke. At last weekend’s championship meet, he raced to a time of 25.97 seconds.
He also won the 100m butterfly, only four events later.
On the Sunday, Anderson also won gold in a team event, joining up with Konrad Bald, Mo Eldah, and Matt Vogelzang to break a Marauder team record, and win gold in the 200m medley relay.
Anderson’s last events of the meet included the 200m butterfly, where he won silver, and then the 100m backstroke event, where he won yet another gold medal, and broke another McMaster record.
Other than Anderson, another standout performer was rookie Brittany Pask, who won the 50m backstroke, which qualified her for the CIS Championships.
Pask says that the key to her success is visualizing the race the day before it happens, and having faith in her training.
“I don’t really think about it when I’m actually in the water but I will visualize myself swimming the race the day before and looking to what I have to do to reach my goal. I have to remember to trust myself and my training but also knowing that I have an amazing team, coaches and family behind me,” said Pask.
As for the promising goals of the near-future for this talented rookie, she would love to make both the OUA and CIS podiums.
“I would love to reach the podium at CIS and OUA’s in the 50 and 100 backstroke and to represent McMaster the best that I can.”
Pask, along with Alexa Vanommen, Natasha Strass-Hundal, and Emily Fung joined forces to win silver in the 200m medley relay.
The Marauders were able to get to 33 podium finishes in the span of two days, which was encouraging for the team and coaching staff.
Next up for the Marauders swim team is a meet in St. Catharines, Ont. where they will take part in the Brock Cup, and strive to top their finishes and swim to some personal best times.
