After five years spearheading the McMaster swimming team, Olivvya Chow has swum her last collegiate competition for the McMaster Marauders. Initially coming to Mac from thousands of kilometres away, Chow quickly felt like she belonged on campus.
“I’m from British Columbia and if you’re in a sport, there are only two or three schools out there so you have to look at other universities,” said Chow. “I came here for a recruiting trip and everyone here was just so nice and inviting. They flew my mom out which was a big deal because it’s pretty far. As soon as I came here, I knew I wanted to come here and I accepted on the very last day the last time during my recruiting trip.”
A mainstay of the Marauder swimming team and a strong presence in the national swimming circuit, Chow can hang up her swim cap after another strong and successful season filled with medals. As one of the more tenured members of the program, Chow has settled into more of a leadership role due to the large amount of incoming rookies.
“There are 24 rookies, so they take over our entire team,” said Chow. “So you’re doing whatever you can to get them to practice, have them motivated to get them to swim. I thought less of myself and it was more developing them as their personalities, their training and stuff like that. I was less stressed about how I would swim versus how they would swim.”
One notable rookie to immediately make a splash across the country was Isabelle Lei, who set records and earned a lot of hardware in her own right. In addition to being a big presence on the team, Lei is a fellow B.C. native who actually swam for the same home team as Chow.
“We have a little rivalry, not really, but she took all my records at the home club and then she came here, and we’re in some different strokes,” Chow said of Lei. “But she went two minutes which is very impressive for 200[m freestyle], and I started crying. I was so excited for her and that inspired me to race harder just because of the way she swam.”
“When Isabelle raced, four of our teammates started crying and you don’t see that in any other sport. We are like a family, and I know that sounds very cliché, but we honestly are.”
Olivvya Chow
McMaster Swimming Team
Looking back on her time with the swimming program, Chow will most fondly remember the moments and experiences outside of the pool possibly more than any moment racing.
“Just being on a sports team is probably the best experience anyone could ever have,” Chow said. “You’re never going to be able to make friendships like this. I’m never going to live in a house like this, so I just cherish those moments. I live in a swimmers’ house with six girls, so it’s something I’m never going to experience again, but it’s an experience that everyone should have.”
Chow is of course no stranger to the podium herself; the Surrey native once again helped the women’s swimming team collectively medal in the Ontario University Athletics tournament in early February. While bringing home four individual medals of her own, including three gold, she contributed to two relay medals as well, resulting in an overall team bronze for the second consecutive year.
This is the second time the women’s team was able to reach the podium during Chow’s tenure, with last year being a defining moment in her collegiate career.
“For sure last year when we medalled at [OUAs], we were third and we hadn’t been third since I came here and there were 16 of us,” Chow said of her fondest memories at Mac. “You can have a team of 18 so that team wasn’t full and we still medaled which was pretty impressive.”
Most impressively, Chow was able to etch her name into the history books once again, breaking two OUA records (both she had previously held): one in 100m breast stroke with a time of 1:08.44, and one in 50m breast stroke with a time of 31.26.
“It was the last time I was going to race so I just had to know to trust in my coaches trust in my training and just go for it,” Chow said. “There were three of us who were going to be under the cut no matter what. So it was just whoever got their hand on the wall first.”
Chow took her success down to Toronto to the U Sports Championships, proving to be the top-performing Marauder at the national tournament as the only Mac swimmer to reach the podium. The French and economics major brought home a silver medal in 100m breast stoke and a bronze in the 50m breast stroke. Chow also helped the Marauders to a fourth-place finish in the 4x100m medley relay.
While medals look great in trophy cases and in pictures, Chow emphasized just how strong the bond is between the swimmers at Mac. Especially in a sport that primarily consists of individual events, the Marauders’ support for one another and their team-first mentality truly sets them apart from other programs.
“Mac is very inclusive,” Chow said. “When we’re racing, if someone is on the blocks, everyone’s standing up cheering. Every other team is sitting down worrying about themselves, and our team is always about the person racing and no one else. We always yell ‘M-A-C’ like three times before someone races and everyone calls us a cult because we are always so involved in everyone else’s races.”
While her time as a Marauder has officially come to a close, the impact Chow leaves on the swimming program will surely remain. It is clear in both the team’s performance and in how Chow speaks of the team that the swimming program at McMaster is truly something unique that deserves to be recognized.
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Coming into her rookie season on the McMaster swimming team, Isabelle Lei had few expectations as to what the year would hold. The British Columbia native was one of many in Mac’s large 2017 recruiting class, and has managed to make a name for herself across Ontario.
The height of her success this year is something she did not see herself accomplishing just one year earlier. In her final year of high school, Lei found herself no longer passionate about the sport she has been taking seriously since she was 11-years-old.
“I had begun to fall out of love with swimming in Grade 12,” said Lei. “Swimming in club, everything was really time-based, and I had a couple injuries so I was not swimming as fast as I would be. Then I came here and it was a really refreshing change.”
Honestly, I had zero expectations going into this year.
Isabelle Lei
OUA Rookie of the Year
McMaster Swim Team
The change of environment helped Lei find the fun in swimming again, seeing improvements in herself she had never seen before. That environment is something that the McMaster swimming team prides themselves on. Creating a family-like atmosphere where all swimmers feel supported is just as important as the races.
When choosing schools in her high school senior year, McMaster’s Health Sciences program really appealed to Lei due to its style of discussion-based learning that she was familiar with from high school. Although it was an extremely competitive program and she did not have high hopes of getting in, she took a recruiting trip and experienced the swimming family first hand.
“I had two former teammates, Olivvya Chow and Hannah Dvorski, and they just told me all about their great experiences here and on my trip I really experienced that,” said Lei. “They took me on a hike and it was really beautiful to see a different side of Hamilton.”
So, when Lei received her admission to Mac, choosing was an easy decision. Yet her love for swimming still was not there. It was when she decided to push herself and try to come out of every practice, feeling like she is succeeding and having fun that she began to enjoy herself.
“[This year has] definitely exceeded all my expectations,” said Lei. “Since we had a really big rookie class, it was really easy to make friends. Academically, it was a little bit hard adjusting at first, but after a couple of weeks I began to realize it’s not that big of a deal — I just had to adjust my study style and I got the hang of it.”
In the pool, Lei has seen herself improve significantly. Although she has ended her rookie season with the medals to prove this, her success did not happen overnight.
“I know that I’ve been training really well because my coaches really believed in me,” said Lei. “They put some goals in my mind that seemed really far off at the beginning of the year, but as I started training I was like okay this is actually attainable if everything falls into place.”
Not only did Lei begin to see it, but so did everyone else. Prior to competing in the Ontario University Athletics Swimming Championships, Lei had earned a total of eight gold and two silver medals as a rookie individually and in relays.
Lei then went on to medal in several events at the provincial championships. Lei won gold in the 200m freestyle, silver in the 100m freestyle and two bronze medals in the 4 x 50m freestyle and 4 x 100m freestyle. Despite all the hardware, the most surprising thing for Lei was taking home the OUA Rookie of the Year award.
“I did not know it was a thing, but when I heard of it I did not expect it to be me,” said Lei. “Then they said McMaster Marauders and everyone was screaming I didn’t even hear them say my name. It was super unexpected.”
As a rookie, Lei would always hear the upper years talk about “OUA Magic” and finally experienced it for herself at that moment.
“No matter if you have a final race or if you don’t, or if you’re on the competitive team or not, everyone is so invested in each other that you draw off of their energy,” said Lei. “My team back home didn’t really cheer so I’ve never experienced that before, but having my team supporting me during OUA Championships was really powerful.”
Her magical performance during the OUA Championships guaranteed her a spot at the U Sports Swimming Championships two weeks later to compete in her six usual events and one new one — the 400m freestyle.
“I hadn’t done it all season but because my 200m went so well at the OUA Championships, Coach Gray and I decided I should try it and I ended up recording my best time,” Lei explained.
My team back home didn’t really cheer so I’ve never experienced that before, but having my team supporting me during OUA Championships was really powerful.”
Isabelle Lei
OUA Rookie of the Year
McMaster Swim Team
Although Lei did not place as highly at the U Sports Swimming Championships — a star-studded event featuring seven Canadian Olympic swimmers — the little victories still mattered.
“[In the 200m freestyle], I went a little slower than I anticipated because everyone in my heat was going a little slow so I thought I was going faster but I wasn’t,” said Lei. “But in finals, I managed to go faster than I did and even though I didn’t record the best time, I was happy with myself because I set a goal to go under 2:04 and I was well under that goal.
Setting goals and being able to check them off is something Lei has been doing all year. As she looks to the future, her swimming goals are bigger than just herself.
“I would love to continue showing the rookies that come in next year the love and support I received in my first year,” said Lei. “I know a lot of kids who come into university swimming thinking that they are going to quit because Grade 12 is always a hard year with applications and other external stress, so people tend to lose their passion for it.”
If Lei is able to make the incoming rookie class fall in love with swimming the way she did in her rookie season, she would count that as one of her greatest accomplishments.
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Setting records and winning medals, the women of the McMaster swimming team led the Marauders in a successful weekend at the Ontario University Athletics Swimming Championships in London, Ontario. The women finished the three-day event with a bronze medal effort and a total of 17 U Sports qualifications for the team as a whole.
First-year Isabelle Lei was awarded OUA Rookie of the Year, winning gold in the 200m freestyle event and silver at 100m, in addition to a pair of bronze medals in the 200m and 400m free relays. Fellow rookie Veronica Nichol also performed well, winning silver in the 200m backstroke.
While the first-year swimmers were busy making their presence known in their first OUA championship appearances, veteran’s like Olivvya Chow, Hannah Dvorski and Carleen Ginter lead the way in and out of the pool.
For Chow, who first picked up swimming to combat health issues — epilepsy and asthma — falling in love with swimming and excelling at it at such a high level is the icing on the cake. The fifth-year Economics and Business major brought home three golds and two silver individual medals and set two OUA records in the 50m and 100m breaststroke events. She also helped bring home silver and bronze medal the 400 and 200m medley relays.
Chow’s performance this weekend is no surprise to those who follow OUA swimming but the graduating athlete of distinction still surprises herself sometimes.
“After I finished my last race the 200m individual medley and I got out of the pool, I thought I was fourth and I was okay with that,” said Chow. “Then all my teammates came over to me to hug me and they told me I was second and I immediately just broke down because I was so happy that I scored more points for the team and they were so happy for me. It was an amazing feeling.”
Although swimming involves many individual races, for Chow and the rest of the Marauders, this is as much of a team sport as any other. The family dynamic, love and support that embodies this team is the reason why all three girls chose to come to McMaster. Dvorski, a fourth-year swimmer and one of the team’s captains who originally planned to swim in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, fell in love with Mac’s program after one visit.
“You’re on a team where 50 people have your back and are there to catch you when you fall — and they have caught me many times,” said Dvorski who took home two bronze relay medals this weekend. “Just having that support system and being surrounded by so many amazing leaders in my first and second year, I’ve been trying my best to show the same skills in the way that I lead.”
Like Dvorski, the support from her team was what made veteran Ginter come back after sitting out last season due to a concussion. The tight-knit roster reminded her why she truly loved swimming.
“Being away from swimming and not being able to go swimming practices with the team and competing for the team made me realize how much I really love it,” said Ginter.
The fourth years’ return resulted in an individual bronze medal in the 800m freestyle event.
“This weekend was just so crazy and emotional, but it was the most memorable weekend of my life,” said Ginter. “The Mac team is such an amazing group of people where everyone is just so encouraging and fun to be around. I'm so proud of all the outstanding performances this weekend, but the positive and enthusiastic environment that the team created on deck is what makes it so memorable for me.”
Though this championship marked the last of OUA championships for Chow — though possibly the beginning of an Olympic career, she has not decided yet — both Ginter and Dvorski have one more year of eligibility to continue to guide the women’s team to reach greater heights in the year to come. But for now, the ladies main focus is what will take place in the next two weeks.
With the U Sports Championships being held from Feb. 22 through 24 at the University of Toronto, the women plan to build off their confidence and momentum from the OUA Championships and make a big splash at the national level.
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Following a successful training camp in Florida over the winter break, the McMaster University swimming team is back in action. After having the opportunity to bask in some much needed sun during outdoor training, the Marauders returned north of the border to prepare for the upcoming Ontario University Athletic swimming championship on Feb. 8.
For head coach and McMaster Hall of Fame swimmer Grey Fairley, Marauder pride runs deep through his veins. Known for often saying, “My name is Grey and I bleed maroon,” to his swim team, he knows exactly what it means to be a McMaster student-athlete. To those around him, Fairley is not just a coach. He is a mentor.
Fairley and the Marauders hosted both the Guelph Gryphons on Jan. 16 and the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Jan. 19 in dual meets before finishing off their busy week at the University of Toronto’s Invitational. Entering into the team’s second half of the season, Fairley used the meets as a way to prepare the Marauders for championship season.
“I thought their effort was exceptional,” said Fairley. “It really gave me the information that I’m going to need moving forward on who to select for the team and what races they should be doing at the OUA Championships.
“On the men’s side I thought Mitch Muizelaar was fantastic in the 400m freestyle,” Fairley added, speaking on Muizelaar’s performance against the Gee-Gees. “He started off the race and was a little out of sorts, but he was able to get it back and win the event because of it.”
Success is not a brand new experience for the third-year swimmer. Muizelaar has been to the OUA Championships twice before and has already qualified for this season’s U Sports swimming championships being held Feb. 22-24 at the University of Toronto.
“I was pretty excited for this meet because it had my type of races,” said Muizelaar about the dual against the Gee-Gees. “It’s a good way to benchmark myself and see where I’m at before the OUA Championships. It was also a very successful race for me because even though it was not my best time, I managed to out-touch my competition in the race.”
Working with Fairley has helped Muizelaar become one of the best in the pool, helping him succeed in his career as a student-athlete.
The McMaster women’s team dominated at the Fairweather Division Championships in Guelph, taking home 10 out of McMaster’s 12 medals.
“Having people there who have done it before and have gone through the process and know what it’s like to be a student-athlete is just really awesome,” said Muizelaar. “Being able to relate to our head coach like that has been a really good experience for me.”
Although the men are not ranked within the top 10 by U Sports nationally, the women have been able to remain in eighth place, eight points ahead of the Dalhousie Tigers and the Western Mustangs who are tied for ninth place.
Earlier this season, the McMaster women’s team dominated at the Fairweather Division Championships in Guelph, taking home 10 out of McMaster’s 12 medals. First-years Veronica Nichol, Isabelle Lei Sarah Little veteran Olivia Chow were among those who stood out.
Fast-forward to the dual against Ottawa and Chow has only gotten better.
“Olivia swam a ton of events and was able to dominate the 200m breast stroke and that was great to see,” said Fairley. “She struggled in the fall with her conditioning, but has really shown improvement since December.”
After all three meets, like most athletes, Chow still sees room for improvement within herself. But she, along with the entire team, plans on using the next few weeks to get much needed rest and recuperation before the provincial championships.
“I’m really excited because it’s my last year of university and my last time racing within the OUA,” said Chow. “So although it is a very sad time for me, I am still extremely excited to race one last time and hopefully win multiple events for our team.”
For Chow, this should not be hard to do. During last year’s OUA championship, she brought home the team’s lone gold medal on the third day, sporting a time of 32.11 seconds in the 50m breast stroke. Chow added a silver medal for 100m along with four other medals to add to her trophy case.
Chow’s time as Marauder may be coming to a close but the women’s team is in good hands with a number of high-performing swimmers who have competed extremely well this year, like the rookie trio.
And with Muizelaar, Mohamad Jrab and Alex Tropynine who all finished within the top three for the 400m at the U of T Invitational, the men’s team has a promising future ahead as well.
The last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind for the McMaster swimming team, but they are looking forward to the next two weeks as they bring down the level of intensity to prepare for the OUA championships.
And for Coach Fairley, that requires three simple things: Getting a lot of rest, saying your prayers and being a “hulkamanic”.
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For swimmer and fourth-year biology student Victoria Giglio, staying busy is just a way of life.
“I find that by keeping busy and doing multiple things, it helps me take a break from a previous task, said Giglio. “If I am feeling overwhelmed, it allows me return to something with a better mindset.”
The coach of the Dundas Seahawks Special Olympics swim team, a Mac Athletes Care executive and a Physical Activity Centre for Excellence aquatics program volunteer, Giglo certainly has lots of opportunity to switch up what she is working on.
But she also has a chance to use her own experience in the pool to make a positive impact for others.
“I think that sports and community service definitely teach some of the same lessons,” said Giglio. “As a veteran on a team and in a leadership role volunteering, I can provide my knowledge and experience to younger athletes and community members. It has made me a better leader, and given me the ability to work as a group towards a common goal.”
Giglo was one of four McMaster students nominated for the Les Prince award, an annual title given to varsity athletes demonstrated outstanding community service. Nominated by their respective coaching staff, each nominee has spilt their time representing Mac on the field and off, contributing to volunteer initiatives in the greater Hamilton area.
This year the Les Prince Award was presented to women’s hockey team captain Michelle Biehl, in honor of her outstanding contributions to the Hamilton community. Biehl has been an active supporter of several community initiatives including Boys and Girls Clubs kids to campus trips, Think Pink to benefit breast cancer, and the the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport Succeed Clean program.
But finding the balance between community work and sport can be difficult, especially with the stressors of everyday academic life. For fencer and third-year biochemistry student Chris Zhang, figuring out a system that works is an ongoing process.
“Like any other student, that perfect balance is something I’m consistently trying to achieve,” said Zhang. “I don’t think I’ve found it yet. I find it difficult to assign strict priorities because my sport, my volunteering and my academics are all very important to me… It is the difficult choices we make in these experiences that define the type of experience we have.”
When he isn’t leading the sabre team to team a silver finish at the Ontario University Athletics championships, Zhang has looked to define his time at Mac by volunteering with the Good Food Box program and the Good Shepherd Christmas Toy Drive. He has also organized fencing demonstrations for the Hamilton community, and worked with Mac Athletes Care throughout the year.
“Sports and community service have provided me with an opportunity to look at life from a different perspective,” said Zhang. “it gets very easy to get lost in a world of studying, testing and grades… volunteering with causes I believe in is a chance to try and step out and try to make the world a better place… [it reminds me] that there is more that can be learned in life then what [we are] simply taught.”
Another alumna of the Mac Athletes Care program, Lydia Hicks has her earned her fair share of life lessons.
“When I find activities that I really love, like rugby and Mac Athletes Care, it’s pretty hard for me to say no to them,” said Hicks. “I think [it] has actually allowed for better time management for schoolwork, because they force me to be productive and get work done in the time gaps that I have. I actually find that when don’t have activities in my week… I’m less productive and I procrastinate more!”
A third-year Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior student, Hicks doesn’t have much time on her hands to waste. But the days she has spent interacting with community members has taught to cherish the simpler things in life. Whether it is sports or volunteering, for Hicks, it all comes down the human connection.
“Everyone goes through his or her own personal battles, and it’s important to establish some sort of network of support to fall back on when you need it,” said Hicks.
“On the rugby team, I have amazing teammates and coaches, and we are always there to listen and support each other whenever we need it. [With volunteering] I’ve had the chance to establish some really great connections with youth who are going through struggles of their own. Even if it’s just a small conversation with someone, that can be an opportunity to help them to get through… and potentially make their day a little bit brighter.”
For all they have done, the McMaster community is certainly a little brighter for this year nominees. Let’s hope they stay busy.
Coming off of a whirlwind weekend of success for the Marauder swim team, it is no surprise that Head Coach Andrew Cole was thrilled to sit down and talk about his team’s success this season.
With so many elements leading to his team’s success, and so much promising skills to discuss, there was one name in particular that Coach Cole couldn’t help but mention when talking about his swimmers. That name was Martyn Siek, whose improvements on the season were “unparalleled” said Coach Cole of his rookie swimmer.
Hailing from Ancaster, Ont. Martyn Siek began his swimming journey 14 years ago, although the sport was not always a first choice of his.
“I didn’t really choose swimming, it was chosen by my parents. But I’m glad they chose it for me,” said Siek.
“I’m glad they kept me motivated enough to remain in the sport when I had my doubts.”
Opting to stay close to home, Siek said that his decision to swim for McMaster was a fairly easy one.
“The reputation of the school is very good, and had a program well-suited for me, as well as having a talented swim team I believed I would be able to contribute to,” said Siek.
“My club team (GHAC) practiced out of McMaster every day, so I was already familiar with the excellent coaching staff and facilities.”
Going into the season, it is always expected that every swimmer is going to have some jitters and make some mistakes, but as an athlete it is also expected that you set goals and work to improve and achieve them.
Siek knows that his improvements are definitely something to be proud of and that reaching success is not something to take for granted.
“I improved far more than I thought I would,” said Siek.
“It’s always a big change coming from club swimming and joining a varsity team- generally it is difficult to adjust to a new coaching staff and training regimen.”
“I’m really glad I was able to overcome the obstacles of first year-university as well as being a rookie. I was extremely happy with my season, and definitely improved more than I expected to.”
With a newfound confidence and a push to only continue to improve, Siek knows that things are only going to get better as his University career continues.
“As a rookie everything I did was new, and it was nerve-wracking going into my first championship meets,” said Siek about his new responsibilities.
“I proved to myself this season that I was able to handle the workload, and I believe next season will be even better.”
When asked to sum up his season and his experience competing at a University level in one word, he chose the word “fulfilling”.
“With the Marauders, I learned what it truly means to be part of a team.”
By: Laura Sinclair
Cancer is a terrible disease that effects millions world-wide every year. In the case of former McMaster swimmer, Naomi Cermak, the disease struck this year, when the doctor’s told her that she was diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma.
Naomi graduated from McMaster’s kinesiology undergrad program in 2004, and after getting her Masters degree at Brock University, she revived her PHD in Kinesiology in 2010, also at McMaster. She won the Young Investigators Research Award in 2008, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada doctoral award (2007-2010), and Ontario Graduate Scholarship. Naomi was a swimmer for the McMaster swim team, where she made it to the OUA finals all 5 years of competing. She was also the Captain of the Swim Team in her final two years at Mac. This high-performing, talented student athlete received the shocking news of her diagnosis in November and is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
The news also effected the lives of family and friends, one of them being former swim team, cross country, track team member and McMaster grad student Andrew Bysice, who wants to do anything he can to help raise money for his friend, Naomi.
In order to do this, Bysice started a “Fear the Beard” campaign to help raise money for melanoma research.
Bysice initially grew out the beard for superstitious purposes for his indoor track season, but after hearing the news that Naomi was diagnosed with melanoma, decided to use his growing beard as a method to gain awareness and raise money for his friend. “It’s essentially just me growing a grotesque beard and getting people to donate to alleviate the pain on their eyes!” Said Bysice.
Over the last couple of weeks, The “Fear the Beard” campaign is well underway, with a YouTube video, a twitter hash tag (#fearthebeard), t-shirts being sold, and a donation page where all of the money raised will go to the Princess Margaret Cancer Research Centre to benefit melanoma treatment and research, as requested by Naomi. The Princess Margaret Hospital has also opened a special melanoma immunotherapy fund thanks to the Fear the Beard campaign’s contributions.
Bysice suggests many ways for people to get involved in Naomi’s fight against melanoma: “People can buy a shirt and wear it around campus, donate to my donation page, and if other people want to get involved with shaving their beards as well, then come and join!”
The “Fear the Beard” Campaign’s first cut-off date is March 15th, as Bysice will be shaving his beard before Relay for Life at McMaster. The Campaign has no real end date, however, as donations can still be given to the campaign after the March 15th deadline. “If more donations are coming after that we will gladly accept.” Said Bysice.
As for the future of the “Fear the Beard” Campaign, there are still goals to be achieved and Bysice hopes that money can still be raised in years to come. The challenge of growing another long and itchy beard, however, is another thing. “Hopefully, we can keep this thing going for next year…however, I don’t know if I can grow another beard for this long! Someone else might need to take up the challenge!”
Twitter: #fearthebeard
YouTube: Cancer will fear the beard
T-shirts: e-mail bysicea@gmail.com
