TORONTO, ON - Both the Gryphons Men's and Women's swim teams were competing as one of the top five OUA teams at the Alan Fairweather OUA Division Championships November 28 and 29 at the University of Toronto. The other four teams competing were from the University of Toronto, Western University, McMaster University and the University of Ottawa. Strong performances by both the men and women improved their standings from last year's division championships. For the men, they improved to 4^th this year, while the women were 2^nd, improving from 4^th last year, moving ahead of McMaster and Western for the first time in a number of years. The team came home with 15 medals, with nine members swimming CIS-qualifying times in 17 events. The CIS Championships will be held Feb 25 to 27 at Laval University.

On the first day of competition, the dynamic duo of Evan Van Moerkerke and Phil Vranic captured podium spots in both the 50m and 200m freestyle events. In the 50m event, Van Moerkerke was 2^nd and Vranic 3^rd. In the 200m event, Moerkerke was the fastest capturing gold, with Vranic close behind in 3^rd. On the second day, Moerkerke was on the podium with a gold medal in the 100m freestyle and a silver medal in the 50m breaststroke events, qualifying for the CIS championships in his four individual events. Vranic qualified in the 50m freestyle. Second year Eric Trevisan took 1^st in the 50m butterfly, qualifying for the CIS championships for the second year in a row. The 4x100m freestyle relay team of Trevisan, John Carroll, Van Moerkerke, and Vranic were on the podium, placing 2^nd in a CIS-qualifying time. 

The women's team was led by a pair of third year swimmers. Emily Anzai, the team's backstroke specialist, qualified for the CIS championships in the three distances. Anzai had three podium finishes with a 2^nd in the 200m backstroke, 3^rd in the 100m backstroke, and, as a member of the 2^nd place 200m medley relay, swimming the first leg with the 50m backstroke. Distance freestyler Tara Mallory qualified for the CIS championships in the 400m (with a bronze medal) and 800m freestyle events as well as the 200m backstroke.   Second year breaststroke specialist Leili Tilvaldyeva was on the podium with two 3^rd place finishes in the 50m and 200m breaststroke events, with CIS-qualifying times.  Also on the podium with a bronze medal was Haylie Burton in the 100m butterfly, qualifying for the CIS championships. Rookie sprinter Victoria Di Caro swam a CIS-qualifying time in the 50m butterfly. The relay team of Anzai, Tilvaldyeva, Burton, and Samantha Young captured a second place finish in the 200m medley relay event.