Sam Reynolds

Sam Reynolds

It was a great weekend for McGill’s swim teams, as both the men and women swam to first place finishes in their respective divisions at the second Quebec Cup competition of the season. This marked the first time the McGill teams have swept a conference competition in eight years.

Head Coach Peter Carpenter got even more than he had hoped for from both his men’s and women’s teams.

“I was pleasantly surprised.  I know we have a very special group this year, but it wasn’t until this past Saturday that I saw how great they could really be,” Carpenter said.  “The team spirit that the team has is really overwhelming, and the atmosphere was great.”

The Redmen cleaned up the men’s division, earning 59 more points than second place finisher Laval. Veteran Steven Biebly and rookie Marc-Andre Benoit, who each earned four gold medals in individual and relay competitions, led the team. Biebly repeated his efforts from the first Quebec Cup and was once again named male athlete of the meet.

On the other side, the women faced stiffer competition, as McGill squeaked by Laval to earn first place honours. The Martlets’ gold medals came courtesy of Sophie Overney-Ragan and her impressive 50 metre fly time, as well as from their 4×50 freestyle relay team, and their 4×50 IM squad. Carpenter lauded the team effort that led the girls to victory. “On the women’s side, they won by committee.  Our girls just swam amazingly as a team, and managed to win two out of three relays.  That was just huge,” he said. “It was a very rewarding day.”

With the strong effort this weekend, five more McGill swimmers qualified to compete at the CIS championships in March. After only two conference meets, McGill has eight swimmers heading to nationals. Carpenter sees the win as a sign of good things to come.

“I knew that winning the men’s side of the meet was a good possibility, but I certainly never thought that we might be able to win by 59 points,” Carpenter noted. “For the women the mountain was even higher. They needed to beat two very strong teams in UL and UdeM, and they managed to do it. I feel that the athletes have put themselves in a great situation to try and challenge for the provincial crowns this year, but there is still a lot of work to do, and they know it.”

The men’s and women’s swim teams will both head south for exhibition meets against Yale and Brown, before heading to Sherbrooke to compete in the third Quebec Cup on Nov. 12.