St. Catharines, ON – The Mustangs Swimming team took 2
nd place at the 2025 Merrily Stratten Divisional Championships this weekend.
Western finished with a combined total of 1622 points between the Men's & Women's teams.
"The team really came together for another phenomenal Divisionals. Coming off a super successful training camp, we had great focus on skills, process and racing," said captain Robin Vadeika. "I am really looking forward to seeing what more Western swimming can do as we move forward into another training block and championship season!"
The Mustangs picked up 1
st place finishes in the Men's 400 IM (Hayden Bartoch), Men's 200 Free (Kieran Stone), Women's 200 Backstroke (Hanna Estabrooks), Women's 200 Medley Relay (
Sydney Hardeman, Ella Collins, Gabriella Casasanta & Zea Wetzlaugk) , Men's 100 Free (Connor Barnado), Women's 50 Breaststroke (Ella Collins).
"I'm really happy and surprised by my result. I wasn't expecting to win, since I just recently got back into swimming IM." said Bartoch. "It's such a fun race that I really enjoy doing, so I'm excited to continue progressing in it and seeing where I can take it."
"I am really happy with how the swim went, especially at this point in the season. I feel like the kick emphasis we have been doing in practice this season has really made a difference in the back half of my swim, and I am really looking forward to how it will continue to progress before competition season." said Estabrooks.
Rookie Sydney Hardeman impressed in her first major competition as a Mustang, finishing 2
nd in the 50m Backstroke, 4
th in the 50m Free, Butterfly & Backstroke and also part of the 200 free relay & medley relay.
"I was unsure of how results would look for me after 2 months with a new training program, but I couldn't be happier with my races " said Hardeman. "Breaking a Western record was something I had only dreamed of doing, especially during my first meet as a mustang."
Team Scores
Combined
| Place |
School |
Points |
| 1 |
Toronto |
1999 |
| 2 |
Western |
1622 |
| 3 |
McMaster |
1291.5 |
| 4 |
Brock |
1197.5 |
Women's
| Place |
School |
Points |
| 1 |
Toronto |
1043 |
| 2 |
Western |
888 |
| 3 |
McMaster |
596 |
| 4 |
Brock |
591 |
Men's
| Place |
School |
Points |
| 1 |
Toronto |
956 |
| 2 |
Western |
734 |
| 3 |
McMaster |
695.5 |
| 4 |
Brock |
606.5 |
