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As this year’s CIS swimming championships drew to a close on Saturday, it was clear that the University of British Columbia’s Thunderbirds had dominated. The three-day swim meet at the University of Montreal CEPSUM pool saw the T-Birds win both men’s and women’s banners as well as several individual awards, with Olympian Savannah King and Tommy Gossland being named women’s and men’s swimmer of the year.
The McGill teams were not as prosperous, but both still had strong showings during the weekend. After day one, the men were in 13th place out of 18 while the Martlets were tied for 12th with the University of Manitoba. However, by the end of the three-day meet, McGill earned a respectable three bronze medals and broke an outstanding 10 school records.
Steven Bielby was the McGill highlight of the tournament, claiming McGill’s first bronze of the meet by tying for third in the 400m individual medley (4:18.18) on the first day. The RSEQ Men’s Swimmer of the Year had more success during the 3-day meet, winning another bronze on the final day in the 200-metre individual medley (2:01.47). With this second bronze medal, Bielby became the most successful swimmer in McGill history, owning a school record 11 CIS medals.
Head Coach Peter Carpenter praised the swimmer’s contributions to the entire McGill swimming program.
“Steven has been the face of McGill swimming for the past four years, and has accomplished so much both academically and athletically,” Carpenter said. “It is so gratifying for me to see him have that success and to be recognized as the most decorated swimmer in McGill history. I am very proud to call him my swimmer.”
Bielby’s teammate Marc-Andre Benoit also won a bronze medal on the final day in the 100m freestyle (49.56). More impressive was Benoit’s knack for destroying school records all tournament long. In total, he broke five school records in five different events, three of which were individual (including the 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, and 100m freestyle).
Other Redmen also broke school records. Teammates Matthew Khatchadourian and Michael Luck broke three collectively, while the team of Benoit, Bielby, Joseph Toops, and Pierre-Alexandre Renaud set a new mark in the 4×200 freestyle relay (7:25.91).
As for the Martlets, freshman Valerie De Broux broke the school’s only record in the 200m breast (2:33.25).
By the end of the meet, the McGill Redmen finished seventh in the standings, a very respectable finish for the team. The Martlets tallied a total of 50.5 points, finishing 12th. Both results left McGill Head Coach Peter Carpenter satisfied.
“As far as the McGill swim team’s performances, I have to say that I am quite proud,” Carpenter said. “One of the major team goals at the beginning of the year was to have our combined men’s and women’s results place us in the top 10 nationally and we ended up 9th overall (seventh in the men and 12th in the women), so I am very happy about that.”
Although the McGill teams could not match the dominance of UBC’s performance, this year’s tournament was an overall success for both teams. Both the men’s and women’s swimming teams improved from last year’s meet, moving up four spots and two spots respectively from last year’s final standings. Furthermore, it showcased the depth of talent in the CIS.
“What I was most impressed about was the incredible depth that now exists in the CIS,” Carpenter said. “It is really exciting to see, and to imagine where this league might be in ten years if Canadian schools continue to have some success at keeping our top athletes here in Canada.”
