2025 OUA Swimmer Spotlight Series

The 2025 OUA Championships are coming up February 7-9 in Markham! Meet some of the Ontario University swimmers competing in this new series!

If he was to sketch a portrait of himself today, the likelihood is that Tristan Sieuluzycki would only be in a bathing suit, have medals draped around his neck, and a huge smile that would go with an optimistic look on his face.

One important factor to note is that Sieluzycki is not an artist.

You won’t see him with a brush, paint or palette. However, the artistry that this 20-year-old displays every time he is in the Tait McKenzie Centre Pool at York University, could be described as a display of finesse, flair and proficiency.

When it relates to swimming, there is no doubt that Sieuluzycki is always reaching for the stars.

As a first-year student at York, Sieluzycki’s name is in the university swim record books an impressive four times. It is impressive with one masterful performance after another.

Scholastically, after coming off four consecutive high school years with grades that display academic honours, there’s a very good chance that his road to a Bachelor of Commerce degree won’t have any potholes.

Knowledgeable individuals just might be wondering how many times his name will be added in the days, months and years to come. When those opportunities happen, there will likely be asterisks noting the official records in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) loop.

The 2025 OUA championships, featuring swimmers from the 10 provincial universities that offer swim programs, are set to take

place in February at the Markham Pan Am Centre.

So where does all this attention put the tall and slim Sieluzycki, who is a graduate of the High Performer Program at Toronto’s Silverthorn Collegiate? That’s a specialized academic program for elite athletes, in the Toronto District School Board, who are involved in regional, provincial, national or international events.

Talk to Sieluzycki and he makes it abundantly clear that his childhood goal was always to represent Canada and compete at the Olympic Games. He also knows that to get there, requires some eye-shattering performances and times at key meets that include the Canadian Nationals and Trials.

To many, his name is fresh. Yes, he completed at the Lakeshore Swim Club and set multiple age group records. Then, he shuffled off to the Etobicoke Swim Club, a program whose reputation is known as one of the elite clubs in Canada.

Sieluzycki is always thinking about how he will nurture his health and growth as he ages, which could also help him live longer. Right now, the focus is on improvement and prosperity is in the pool.

For years, numerous teenage athletes dream about life at a post-secondary institution in the United States. Some are infatuated about school names, facilities, coaches and other factors. Many are caught up in the buzz of scholarship offers and the huge marketing success of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Sieuluzycki was one of them.

For him, the hook came from Indian River State College, a small school of some 11,000 students in Fort Pierce, Fla. The school offered him a full ride – tuition, residence, and books. Sieluzycki didn’t hesitate and accepted the offer.

Sieluzycki was also aware that Indian River State had dominated, for years, at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) swim finals.

“I was there one year and realized it just wasn’t for me,” said Sieluzycki, who didn’t want to elaborate. “It was simply not what I had expected, so I came home.”

While in his junior year of high school, Sieluzycki encountered what he called “a poor experience” with an un-named swim coach. His results in the pool were not what he had expected and there was a time when he thought about ending his time as a competitive swimmer.

That’s around the time when he committed to attending the University of Ottawa – but didn’t share that with his parents. When he did get around to conveying his situation to them, Sieluzycki had second thoughts.

“I was all over the place, not focussed and just felt lost, so I took a year off to review everything,” he said. “I had joined a new team, swimming under Don Burton at the Ontario Swim Academy, kept training and worked as a lifeguard at TPASC (the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre).

Then came decision-making time – again. For Sieluzycki, it was all about re-focussing and building a meaningful life.

With his former coach, Brett D’Souza from the Etobicoke Swim Club coach now heading up the program at York University, Sieluzycki made the move to studying at York. His primary stroke, the breaststroke, has him clocked in a personal best time of one minute, 02.96 seconds for 100 metres. That happened in 2022 at the Ontario Junior International meet.

Next up for the 20-year-old Sieluzycki, with a schedule that has him practising eight times a week in the pool, along with weight training, is an effort to keep improving his race times.

“To get better, I have to do more than just hope for the best – I have to be confident and am fortunate to have a great coach,” he added. “Staying consistent and positive are going to be the driving factors to my success in and out of the pool.”

Swim Ontario, in conjunction with the OUA, values the commitment to the sport by athletes, coaches and officials in Ontario and Canadian universities. This story is part of a series that has the spotlight shining on a variety of individuals, and their post-secondary institutions, who excel in academics, swimming and community life.

David Grossman is a veteran multi award-winning Journalist and Broadcaster with some of Canada’s major media, including the Toronto Star and SPORTSNET 590 THE FAN, and a Public Relations professional for 50+ years in Canadian sports and Government relations.