On March 4 and 5, 30 athletes from Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School (BMLSS) and Huntsville High School (HHS) competed at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) 2025 Swimming Championships.
The event took place at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre and hosted 2,500 athletes from 155 schools across the province. Both schools brought 16 swimmers – the highest number both schools have ever taken to the event – who competed in the junior, senior, open, and para swim divisions.
BMLSS results:
- Grade 11 student, George Kierstead, won gold in the para 50m freestyle and para 100m freestyle events.
- Grade 11 student, Mason Beaumont, finished within the top 20 in the 50m butterfly event.
- Grade 11 student, Maddie Allison, finished 15th in the 100m breastroke event.
- Grade 12 student, Andrew Guerriero, finished twenty-eighth in the 100m freestyle event.
- Grade 9 student, Piper Hemington, finished tenth in the 50m butterfly event.
- Grade 9 student, Sophie Rix, won bronze in the 100m backstroke event.
- The Junior Girls Relay Team (Piper Hemington, Dillynn Jones, Megan Pearcey, and Ryley Reid) finished fifthteenth in the medley relay and twentieth in the freestyle relay events.
- The Open Girls Relay Team (Claire Allison, Maddie Allison, Jo Guerriero, and Sophie Rix) finished fifth in the medley relay event.
- The Senior Girls Freestyle Relay Team (McKenna Forth, Louisa Kirstein, Lola Mahon, and Jade Pearcey) dropped five seconds off their entry time.
Students Kirstead (top) and Rix (bottom)
“It has been wonderful to work alongside HHS coaches and build this program over the years,” explained BMLSS coach, Julia Yates. “We are blown away by the amazing performances of our swimmers at the OFSAA championships. Every BMLSS swimmer who attended achieved a personal best swim time over the two days. The growing success is very exciting!”
“It was an amazing experience to qualify for OFSAA with our relay team,” said Jones. “I met so many new people on the swim team this year and really enjoyed challenging myself at every practice.”
HHS results:
- Grade 9 student, Emily Parry, won gold in the junior girls 50m freestyle event and bronze in the junior girls 100m freestyle event.
- Grade 12 student, Hayley Oke, won gold in the open girls 100m backstroke event and gold in the senior girls 100m fly event.
- The Junior Combine Team ranked twelfth out of 155 teams.
- Grade 11 student, Tyler Gevaert, finished fourth in the senior boys 100m backstroke event and sixth in the senior boys 50m fly event.
- Grade 9 student, Josh Gevaert, finished fifth in the junior boys 50m backstroke event and sixth in the junior boys 100m individual medley event.
- The Junior Girls 200 Metre Freestyle Relay Team (Jenna Dove, Maddie Kay, Braunwyn Strickland, and Tyne Walker) finished first in the B Finals, placing eleventh overall.
- The Senior Boys 200 Metre Relay Team (Tyler Gevaert, Ross Graham, Chris Johnson, and Arik Martin-Padfield) finished second in the B Finals, placing twelfth overall.
- The Senior Girls Open 200 Medley Relay Team (Ella Dussalut, Amelia Qujada, Hayley Oke, Emily Parry) placed nineteenth overall in the B Finals.
Students Oke (top) and Parry (bottom)
“The HHS coaches were super proud of the record number of swimmers that qualified for OFSAA this year,” said HHS coach, Ally Myers. “Beyond the amazing OFSAA medals, swimmers posted best times and our Junior Combined Team ranked 12 out of 155 schools! We couldn’t have been prouder of the team spirit and positive atmosphere at the event. With this level of enthusiasm for swimming we expect to keep growing.”
“OFSAA provided me with an incredible opportunity to bond with my amazing teammates, meet new friends, make lifelong memories, and of course, compete against the best in the province. What a phenomenal start to high school this has been,” said Parry.
OFSAA is the final event of the season in highschool sports.
