ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Golden Hawks swim team travelled to Brock on Sunday to face off against half the OUA, including the Badgers, Guelph, McMaster and York.

Highlighting the meet was the men's 4x50m medley relay which went the fastest time on record, breaking the previous team record set in 2014 by over two seconds.
 
Kent Goni Avila also had an incredible meet, setting the fastest times on record in the 50m breaststroke and 100m backstroke. 

The first event of the day was the 4x50m medley relay. The men's relays set the tone for the day as the 'A' relay won the event in the fastest time on record, hitting the wall in a blistering 1:42.93 breaking the previous record by over two seconds. 

Tyler Greenwood led the relay with his backstroke leg and then came first-year John Ryan who swam breaststroke. 

Kent Goni Avila dove in next, changing the race dynamic from a close battle with McMaster to one between the Hawks and their historic record. 

Lastly, Daniel Romagnoli dove in for the freestyle leg carrying the Hawks to victory. 

The podium was covered in purple and gold as the 'B' relay finished third overall, followed by the 'C' and 'D' relays, which finished seventh and ninth, respectively. 

The women's 4x50m medley relays were in a tight battle against their competitors and finished a respectable fifth, eighth, 12th and 13th place overall. 

Kaitlin Couillard was the lone Hawk in the 400m freestyle - the first individual women's event of the meet. Couillard finished 11th overall. 

On the men's side, Greenwood was back in the water after his team record/relay podium finish. He soared to a second-place finish in the 400m freestyle while Cezar Hirsescu and Ethan Handy followed nearby finishing ninth and 16th, respectively. 

In the 400m IM, superstar Owen Jibb made the podium golden again after a first-place finish. 

Fellow Hawks Dylan Murray, Kelton Langman, and Brandon Brock came in sixth through eighth.

Laurier's backstroke strength was displayed by Simrit Grewal, Emma Young, Aleesha Tejani, and Isabella Pandolfo, who raced strong competition to fifth, sixth, 11th, and 13th place overall. 

On the men's side, Connor Cartier was the lone Hawk where he raced to a strong fifth-place finish. 

Next was the largest event of the meet, with 45 competitors on the women's side. 

Laurier's women rose to the challenge, as Morgan Pequin finished ninth and Peyton Croteau finished 14th overall. 

Against 36 men, Goni Avila and Romagnoli went one-two in the event. 

Shortly behind were Jacob Wahba in fifth, Griffin Oldman in ninth, and William Bryer in tenth.

Megan Smith became the first Hawk to find the podium on the women's side with a third-place finish in the 200m butterfly. 

On the men's side, Greenwood kept his podium streak alive and scared the team record in the 200m butterfly. He touched the wall in 2:05.75 - the second-fastest performance ever by a Golden Hawk – just behind the 2:05.20 team record set by Paralympian Alexander Elliot. 

Following behind Greenwood were Nolan Pittman (fifth), Marty Konecny (ninth), and Dylan Thomas (11th). 

In the 100m breaststroke, Olivia Frost finished fourth overall and just off the podium. Followed by a close battle between Golden Hawks Katie Marton and Montana Geris in ninth and 10th. 

On the men's side, John Ryan found the podium again with a third-place finish in the 100m breaststroke after his team record/podium relay finish earlier in the meet. 

Also in the 100m breaststroke were Brandon Brock and Liam Connolly who faced stiff competition finishing seventh and 16th overall. 

One of the hardest races in swimming is the 200m backstroke and the Hawks soared to the challenge.

Grewal finished eighth overall with Emma Young not far behind in 13th. 

On the men's side, Jibb missed the podium with a fourth-place finish with Bryer shortly behind in seventh.

In the splash and dash, Olivia Francis and Pequin finished fifth and 10th, respectively. Griffin Oldman missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in the 50m freestyle. 

Murray and Sawyer Kay battled it out in the 200m IM which ended in Murray's fifth and Kay's 13th-place finish. 

In the 50m breaststroke, Frost showed her strength with a 5th place finish followed closely by Maxeen Mullen, Tara Tavoularis and Geris who finished 12th, 13thand 16th respectively. 

Goni Avila won the 50m breaststroke, adding another U SPORTS qualifying time to his resume and swimming the fastest time ever on record for Laurier, Ryan finished just off the podium in fifth while Connolly, Konecny and Andrew Zab raced together coming 13th, 15th and 16th overall. 

After a hard battle, Francis finished less than half a second off the podium in the 200m freestyle with her fourth-place finish and Katarina Brezovan raced hard to a 13th-place finish overall. 

In the 200m freestyle, Wahba and Romagnoli were second and third on the podium, with Oldman, Greenwood, Thomas, Hirsescu, and Langman not far behind in fifth, sixth, eighth, 12th and 14th.

In the 100m butterfly, the Hawks fought strong competition, which saw Megan Smith finish eighth, Tejani finish 11th and Marton finish 16th overall. 

Brock was the lone Hawk to place in the top 16 on the men's side with his 11th-place finish. 

Laurier's 200m breaststroke specialist Mullen finished fourth overall in her signature event just off the podium while Bailey Breitkreutz followed closely with a seventh-place finish.

In the 100m backstroke, Grewal found the podium with a second-place finish. Young, Couillard, Pequin and Croteau also put points on the board for the Hawks finishing ninth, 10th, 12th, and 15th respectively.

Goni Avila won the event with the fastest time on record for Laurier; an incredible 55.89 seconds. 

Fellow Hawks Bryer (sixth), Langman (11th) and Ryan (15th) also gained the Hawks more points. 

The last individual event of the meet was the 50m butterfly where Francis finished seventh, Katie Cosgriffe 15th and Smith 16th on the women's side. 

Jibb finished second overall, Romagnoli fourth, Wahba (sixth), Murray (13th), Thomas (14th), and Konecny (15th).
 
The last event of the night was the 4x50m freestyle relay. On the women's side, the Laurier 'A' relay finished third in 1:50.98 - just 1.5 seconds off the team record of 1:49.40 set in 2010. 

Laurier's 'B' relay finished ninth, 'C' relay 13th and 'D' relay 15th overall. 

The men's 4x50m freestyle relay also scared the team record set last year. The team record stands at 1:33.26 while Laurier's 'A' relay went 1:33.86. The 'B' relay finished just off the podium in 4th place, the 'C' relay finished 9th, and the 'D' relay finished 14th overall. 

Next up, the Golden Hawks head up University Avenue for a Battle of Waterloo match-up against the Warriors on October 30.

Racing at the PAC Pool begins at 7 pm. Admission is free.