WATERLOO, Ont. - Golden Hawks Olivia Francis and Owen Jibb are the Laurier Athletes of the Week, presented by The Hawk Shop.
Francis, a third-year economics major from Toronto, Ont., scored 64 individual points in the process of lifting the women's swimming team to a third-place finish at the Dean Boles Divisional Championships.
The 2024/25 team MVP was in the lead-off spot for both freestyle relay races. In the 4x50m race, the team placed second and finished with the second fastest time on team record at 1:48.64. The 4x100m relay finished second as well with a time of 3:59.50, marking the third fastest time on the Laurier women's team record.
Francis set a new record in the 50m freestyle, placing second and touching the wall in 26.90. She was on the podium again with a 59.12 100m freestyle.
While she was just shy of podium finishes in the 200m freestyle and 50m butterfly, finishing fourth in both races, her 2:08.52 in the freestyle was also a team record.
Jibb, a third-year business major from Bracebridge, Ont., led the men's swimming team to first place at the Divisional Championships, moving up from their second-place finish last year.
Jibb scored 77 individual points and found the podium in all four of his races. He came first in the 200m individual medley with a time of 2:03.39. That time automatically qualified him for the U SPORTS national championships.
The 400m individual medley was the only race he finished second, touching the wall in 4:26.53.
He won the 1500m freestyle by 18 seconds, finishing in 16:02.28. In the 200m breaststroke, Jibb claimed gold again with a time of 2:16.81.
This was Francis's first Laurier Athlete of the Week award, and third for Jibb.