Rebel, Jaguar `buddies' fare well at OFSAA meet

Swimmers from Georgetown District High School and Christ the King figured prominently in the medal count at the Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association (OFSAA) championships this week in Etobicoke, but the notion that there's an intense rivalry in the pool between the two local schools doesn't seem to hold water. Whereas the Rebels have consistently been a swim power in the province for the past couple of decades, Christ the King's program is in just its fourth year, yet it has begun to make regular appearances on the OFSAA podium. A fifthplace showing for Georgetown last year was its lowest team standing in the past eight years, having won the overall title in 2004, while the Jaguars had a bestever result with a top-15 finish for the school. So when the 2007 meet played out this week in Etobicoke, there were some intriguing matchups between the senior girls of CtK and GDHS in the finals of individual and relay races at OFSAA, which drew 1,300 competitors for the two-day event. In the senior girls' 200m medley relay on day one, the Jaguars scooped up bronze medals and the Rebels placed sixth in the eight-team final, but overall at the meet, Georgetown's girls would take third overall to Christ the King's sixth. "There's no rivalry with Georgetown swimming. We're best friends, are you kidding?" laughed Julie Silas, whose strong finish in the 100m freestyle was worth another bronze medal. "We only joke around that we don't like each other. Swimming's more an individual thing and you see both schools cheering for each other quite a bit." Silas's teammate, Kim Galvin, a double medallist last year, added three more to her collection this week, earning silver medals in the 100m individual medley and 200m freestyle races. Switzer and Kristen Keough were also on the relay bronze winners. A Grade 12 student, Galvin hopes to compete at the university level next year and the number of graduating Jags might make for a rebuilding year in 2008. "I thought I had the gold for the 100 IM but I lost it by like .02 milliseconds, which is kind of disappointing, but overall I moved up in both my events from last year, so it went pretty well," said the 18-year-old Galvin. "We have a lot of seniors graduating but there are a lot of people coming up who can make it happen." CtK's Jessica Switzer bolstered her side's point total with a first-place result

in the senior girls' 100m breaststroke in a time of 1:20.46. The Rebels also had plenty of hardware to haul home, including a bronze for Jen Ormiston in the junior girls' 50m breaststroke. Georgetown's Jessica Stuart, who broke an OFSAA record in 2005 in the 50m butterfly as a junior, finished her stellar high school career this week, making the finals of three events, just missing out on a medal.

"It's a sad day because it's my last OFSAA, but I was happy with how I did and how the team finished," said Stuart, seventh in the 50m fly and sixth with the medley relay team. "And my brother Rob did well, racing as a senior when

he's still only in Grade 10." Rebels Ricky Davids and James Bramley were triple medallists at OFSAA, as part of the winning senior boys' 200m freestyle and 200 IM medley relay teams. Davids also was runner-up in the 200m IM, while Bramley mined silver in the 100m backstroke.

Christ the King's girls' swimmers placed sixth in the team standings at the OFSAA 2007 championships this week in Etobicoke and Nicole Kucherenko contributed points toward the Jaguars overall total by making the B final of the junior girls' 50m backstroke Wednesday afternoon.

Rebekka Bond of Georgetown District High School's Rebels raced to a sixth-place finish in the A final of the junior girls' 50m backstroke at the provincial high school swim championships Wednesday at the Etobicoke Olympium. The Rebels, who organized the event this year, earned several medals and received third-place team finishes from both the girls and boys to place third overall in the combined team standings.