Whether in the pool or open water, Noah McGregor is fast becoming a provincial-level threat in distance swimming.

Mere weeks after walking off with both a silver (Male 15-16 - 1500m freestyle) and bronze (Male 15-16 - 800m freestyle) medal at the Ontario Swimming Championships hosted at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, McGregor took first place (in his age bracket - 2nd overall) in the Open Water Championships 3km race hosted in Gravenhurst.

"I prefer open water swimming to pool swimming," said McGregor, a 15 year-old grade 10 student at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School, training with the Sudbury Laurentian Swim Club for the past 18 months or so.

"I like the feel of not being restricted - and it's a lot more strategic."

That said, reaching the podium at provincials is pretty darn special, a feat that McGregor accomplished by recording times of 16:45.39 (2nd place - 1500m) and 8:50.38 (3rd place - 800m).

It's in the former that the local product who first got his competitive bearings in the pool as a member of the Nickel City Aquatics has noted the greatest advancement. "I approach the race with a lot more confidence now," said McGregor, who first raced the 1500m distance in December of 2024.

"I used to be a little intimidated; it's a pretty scary race because of how long it is. But now that I have raced it a lot more, I can race it more effectively."

"I pace it a lot more now," McGregor added. "I used to just go out hard and kind of just died midway through. I've learned to pace a lot better so that I can have a better back end now."

With a time of 35:15, McGregor placed behind only Lucas Lloyd-Bee (34:43) in the 3km Open Water swim at Gull Lake in Gravehurst. McGregor did manage to show the way in his age group (14-15 years old), all while more than holding his own against Lloyd-Bee, a University of Toronto Varsity Blues commit for the upcoming varsity season.

"Every open water race is different," said McGregor. "There's just a lot more factors: waves, temperature, wind. And I love just seeing all of the scenery."

The remaining Open Water Championship results for SLSC entries were as follows:

5 km - Male - 14-15
Noah McGregor - 2nd - 59:31

3 km - Male - 14-15
Hudson Green - 3rd - 36:46
Callum Duncan - 6th - 38:19

3 km - Male - 16-17
Ewan Duncan - 12th - 37:48

1 km - Female - 11-12
Charlie Gatien - 16th - 16:23

Gatien also racked up some impressive results at provincials, returning home with a pair of bronze medals courtesy of the 100m backstroke (1:15.12) and the 200m backstroke (2:40.03). Rounding out the SLSC contingent at provincials were Owen Baas, Callum Duncan, Hudson Green and Aiden McDonald.