TORONTO, Ont. - The Laurier Golden Hawks swim team completed Day 1 of the 2026 OUA Swimming Championships, hosted by the University of Toronto, with one of the strongest opening performances in program history.
Laurier captured two gold medals and one bronze, highlighted by a dominant showing in the men's 400-metre individual medley. George Radic claimed the conference title, while Owen Jibb earned bronze after the pair battled stroke-for-stroke throughout the race.
Alec Elliot added to the medal haul with gold in the para 100m butterfly, becoming an OUA champion. In total, 11 Golden Hawks advanced to championship finals.
The multi-gold performance marked the first time since 2010 that Laurier secured more than one conference title at a single OUA championship, when Whitney Rich won two individual gold medals and contributed to a bronze-medal relay.
Finals opened with the 4x50m freestyle relays. The women's team of Olivia Francis, Addison Card, Catherine Tenai and Morgan Pequin placed seventh, narrowly missing the program record.
On the men's side, Griffin Oldman, Jacob Wahba, Callum MacGregor and Greg Hayward finished sixth.
Olivia Frost raced to 15th overall in the B final of the 100m breaststroke. John Ryan, who achieved the U SPORTS qualifying standard in the morning preliminaries, followed with an eighth-place finish in the championship final.
Andy Jiang placed 13th overall in the 100m butterfly before Elliot's gold-medal swim in the para 100m butterfly electrified the evening session.
Laurier had five swimmers qualify for the 50m backstroke finals. Katie Cosgriffe led the women with a 13th-place finish while setting a new unofficial para world record and becoming the first S10 woman to break the 30-second barrier. Emma Young added a 15th-place result.
On the men's side, Tyler Greenwood and Hayward finished 10th and 11th, respectively, while William Bryer placed 14th.
In the women's 400m IM, Eadaoin McGrath won the B final to finish 10th overall. Radic then delivered a record-setting performance in the men's final, touching first to secure gold and post the fastest time in program history. Jibb followed closely behind to earn bronze.
The session concluded with the 4x100m medley relays. Young, Frost, Cosgriffe and Pequin combined for a sixth-place finish on the women's side. Bryer, Ryan, Jiang and Hayward placed fifth in the men's event while meeting the U SPORTS qualifying standard to requalify the relay.
Through one day of competition, Laurier has three swimmers qualified individually for U SPORTS competition, along with one relay.
The Golden Hawks return to the pool on Friday for the final two days of racing.
