Two Ravens to go to nationals

OUA swim wrap-up

by Chris Messina

It was an up and down meet for Carleton’s swim team at the OUA championships Feb. 11-13 at Brock University.

The highlights included Carleton’s Mike Penny breaking the Ravens team 400-metre freestyle record but the lowlights included Nathan Churchill failing to qualify for the consolation finals in the men’s 200-metre butterfly by just five one-hundredths of a second.

Heather McDonald was the top Carleton swimmer on the women’s side and will be competing at the CIS championship.

"We didn’t do as well as he hoped to do. However, we did improve from our last meet and it was our best competition in the last five or six years," says Carleton women’s coach Lynn Marshall.

Carleton men’s captain Mark Blenkinsop says for swimmers, the whole season may come down to mere seconds.

"You give 120 per cent all season long and it comes down to one race. For the sprinters that could be as little as 25 seconds. I’m proud of every single swimmer on this team. They all have positive attitudes and work extremely hard, on top of that many of the swimmers including myself were feeling a little sick," says Blenkinsop.

Keegan Harris also had a great performance at the OUAs and Blenkinsop says Harris is one of the best athletes attending Carleton.

"He can beat can compete with [his teammates] in the freestyle and he is a backstroker," says Blenkinsop.

Marshall says the team will be better next season.

"Given the age of the swimmers we are confident that we can improve next year," says Marshall.

Blenkinsop says he is not happy with conditions of the hotels that they stay in on the road. The team stayed in the smoking section a hotel for the meet at Brock, says Blenkinsop.

"It’s unacceptable, something has to be done about it. With the work we put into our sport, the littlest things make a big difference."