U of T swimmers strive for OUA, U Sports titles while eyeing Olympic trials

Ainsley McMurray didn't take long to realize the standards and expectations of the program when she started swimming with the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in 2018.

Diving into the pool alongside then-established Canadian Olympian Kylie Masse, McMurray was just beginning a post-secondary career that has since seen international medals, as well as national and provincial titles.

Heading into her final U Sports and Ontario University Athletics championship season, McMurray isn't hoping to just set records and win medals. She's also looking to swim for a Paris 2024 Olympic berth, just like her former first-year teammate.

"I got to swim with [Masse] in my first year, and she's just one of the best people I've ever met and one of the best swimmers I've gotten to know," McMurray said. "She comes back to the pool sometimes and joined us to train at the start of the year, which elevated my training.

"Just having her next to you is special."

After growing up at a smaller swim club in Montreal, head coach and CBC Sports commentator Byron MacDonald lured McMurray to join the Varsity Blues program, which he has led since 1978.

Under MacDonald, the Varsity Blues have become one of the premier Canadian varsity programs, winning the last 19 men's OUA championships and the last nine women's titles. On a national U Sports level, the men have nine titles, while the women have 11.

MacDonald previously coached at rival York University after his swimming career, which saw him represent Canada at the Munich 1972 Olympics and several other events. He's earned 17 coach of the year honours in U Sports and has won 59 conference championships.

"We have a lot of experience in figuring out what it takes to motivate the athletes to accomplish what they want to accomplish and set very lofty goals and to push them to get to those goals," MacDonald said of the program and the success he has brought to it, coaching alongside assistant coach Linda Kiefer.

For McMurray – who's entering the final weeks of her master's degree following undergrad – her time with the Varsity Blues has been formative. She has a bronze medal from the women's 4x100-metre medley relay from the Naples 2019 FISU World University Games and has medals from every U Sports and OUA championship from 2019-2023. That's highlighted by last year's win in the 100m freestyle, beating Canadian Olympic medallist and University of Calgary swimmer Rebecca Smith, by two-hundredths of a second.

McMurray knows that peaking at the right time for this spring is critical. 

"I'm excited to get the championship season going and very excited for U Sports and Olympic trials a few weeks later. I was exhausted going into trials last time because they were right after U Sports, but this year [at McGill] is a bit more manageable, so we'll be able to have a taper [from training]," she said. 

As McMurray aims to cap her university career with a strong finish, teammate Gabriel Mastromatteo sees a similar target of using the OUAs and U Sports as hopeful stepping stones toward an Olympic spot. 

The 21-year-old reigning U Sports male athlete of the year out of Kenora, Ont., is just the latest example of the Toronto program putting athletes on the national team and effectively developing top student-athletes in the pool and classroom.

While winning three U Sports titles in the 50m and 100m breaststroke and earning 10 podium appearances at the OUA level, the commerce student-athlete has also had research opportunities at Oxford University, all while swimming among Canada's best.

Mastromatteo has swam for his country at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games, and 2019 World Aquatics Championships,

Given his qualities coming out of high school, there were no doubts Mastromatteo could have gone to the U.S. and the glamour of the NCAA. Yet, he stayed in Canada and has gotten the best of the University of Toronto.

"What we have at the Varsity Blues on the academic side is something that I haven't found anywhere else, even hearing from my friends in the U.S. and Europe," Mastromatteo said. "Moving away from a swimming perspective, you're getting a degree from U of T, which pays a lot of dividends."

With the looming championship season and Olympic trials from May 13-19 at the Olympic Park in Montreal, Canada's top swimmers — many from the Varsity Blues — enter a critical spell, and one that can define their athletic careers long after they step out of the race lane for the last time.

For the Varsity Blues, the OUA championship isn't necessarily the focus but a critical stepping stone toward the national championships, where they battle with fellow top swimming schools, the University of British Columbia and Calgary. 

"This is really the beginning of our championship season, and it's also an Olympic year, so there's a different energy this year going into it," McMurray said. "We're trying to build on that legacy of success."

Around the U Sports World:

• The University of New Brunswick Reds men's hockey team became the first team to complete a 30-0-0 regular season, topping the Atlantic University Sport standings and clinching the top spot through the postseason, which starts on Feb. 14. 

WATCH | UNB Reds become 1st AUS men's hockey team to complete perfect season:

#TheMoment a N.B. hockey team made history with a 30-0 winning streak

10 months ago

Duration 0:01

The University of New Brunswick men's hockey team became the first U Sports hockey team to win 30 consecutive games, going undefeated in their regular season and earning a place in the history books.

• The Concordia University Stingers women's hockey team will look to join the UNB men as teams undefeated on the ice. The Stingers currently sit at 24-0-0, with their regular-season finale against the Université de Montreal Carabins on Feb. 16. 

• The OUA wrestling championships highlighted last weekend's action, with the Brock Badgers men's and women's teams capturing both titles. The teams won a combined 12 medals at the event, while the McMaster University Marauders and University of Western Ontario Mustangs rounded out the podium on the men's side. The University of Guelph Gryphons and McMaster took the medals behind Brock on the women's side.