2026 Ontario Open Water Championships Highlights
2026 Ontario Open Water Championships Highlights
The 2026 Ontario Open Water Championships took place July 25-26 at Gull Lake in Gravenhurst. There were a number of BTSC athletes competing in the competition that included 1km, 2km, 3km and 5km races.
Over the course of the weekend, BTSC athletes earned 14 medals (8 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze). Here is a summary of highlights for the BTSC team participating at the championships.
Saturday swimming kicked off with the 3km event. In the 12-13 year old age group. Nathan Orava won the gold medal. Amylee Courchesne had an excellent swim, finishing 5th in her race. In the 14-15 year old age group, Emma Vaughan raced to the silver medal. Lily Oliver had a top 10 result by finishing 8th in the race.
The next event that included BTSC athletes in the entry lists was the 1km race. For the girls races, Marissa Battrick, Kaelyn Vroom and Clara Vilchez swept the podium, claiming gold, silver and bronze medals respectively in the 15-16 year old age category. Gaby McFarland and Erin Round placed 13th and 14th. Sophie Bowen is the gold medallist and open water champion for the 11-12 year old age group. Sophie’s time was over a full minute faster than the closest competitor. Gaby McFarland and Eva Beaudry placed 6th and 12th in the age group. Taira Vroom was crowned open water champion and gold medallist for the 17 year old and over age group. Kate Smith achieved a 12th place finish. Maggie Taylor achieved an 8th place result in the 13-14 year old age group. Of note, Taira, Marissa, Kaelyn, Clara and Sophie had the five fastest times overall for all age groups. In the boys race, William Rupay touched the finish pad in the bronze medal position for 13-14 year olds.. Oscar Round finished in 6th place for the 11-12 year old age group and Logan Round placed 16th in his age group. In the Masters race, Anna Blommaert and Joanna Palermo finished in 7th and 16th places in their age category.
The Sunday schedule featured the 5km races followed by the 2km event.
In the 5km swim, Marissa Battrick and Taira Vroom climbed to the gold medal level of the podium. They both had impressive swims. Marissa won her 14-15 year old group by almost 2 minutes and Taira outpaced her 18 year old and over group by 5 minutes. Douglas Sutherland had an excellent swim around the Gull Lake course, finishing 5th in his 14-15 year old age group.
For the girls 2km event, Leah Martin had a convincing win to earn the 11-12 year old gold medal. She touched at the finish over 1.5 minutes sooner than her closest competitor. Amylee Courchesne won the bronze medal by out touching the 4th place swimmer by 2/100ths of a second. In the 13-14 year old age group, Emma Vaughan had a gold medal swim and was crowned the open water champion. Gaby McFarland had a 5th place finish. In boys 2km swimming for 12-13 year olds, a very close race had William Rupay grabbing the gold medal and Nathan Orava earning the bronze.
Congratulations swimmers on your achievements at the Open Water Championships.
Thank you to our Club sponsors for their continued support. They are:
Platinum Sponsors: Rockwater Wealth Management, Career Marketing Center, Sora Group
Gold Sponsors: Homestead Artisan Bakery, Georgian BMW
Bronze Sponsors: Brandy's Cove Yachting Center, Watt's Trophies and Engraving, Theta TTS
Go Trojans!
