Amidst cheers, whistles, and blowhorns, the McGill Martlet and Redmen swim teams hosted squads from across Quebec for the second RSEQ Cup on Saturday at Memorial Pool. The Martlets finished second out of six teams with 112 points, behind the Montreal Carabins, while the Redmen recorded 78 points, good for third behind the Laval Rouge-et-Or and Montreal.
Several individual performances stood out at the meet. Fifth-year phenom Steven Bielby claimed four medals, most impressively in the 400m individual medley (IM). He won by a full body length over second place with a time of 4:32.80.
“I wasn’t sure how the race would pan out, and I like to lead it from the front just to be in control,” Bielby said, all smiles after the meet. “It’s a strategy I normally do, and it worked out well today.”
Third-year backstroke specialist Jennifer Darling finished second for the Martlets in the 200m backstroke, clocking in at 2:18.50. Quick off the block, Darling swam neck and neck with Montreal’s Gabrielle Soucisse for the majority of the race. In the last 50 metres, Soucisse overtook Darling, winning by 2.16 seconds.
The enthusiasm of the fans and team members was evident throughout the meet. In the highly anticipated men’s 4x100m freestyle relay, McGill’s first relay team—consisting of Marc-André Benoit, Michael Luck, Pierre-Alexandre Renaud, and Bielby—took the lead over the first three lengths. However, in the last 100 metres, Dominique Massie-Martel of Laval outswam Bielby and stole the win with a time of 3:29.10 over McGill’s second place 3:30.30.
According to Head Coach Peter Carpenter, the “swim of the day” was Pierre-Alexandre Renaud’s performance in the 200m freestyle with a time of 1:52.21. After a strong start, Renaud maintained a steady pace, vying for first with Christopher Bezeau of Montreal and Dominique Massie-Martel of Laval. With a final spurt of energy, Renaud snatched gold in the last 50 metres. He ended the day with one gold and two silver medals, good for “swimmer-of-the-meet.”
On the whole, Coach Carpenter was pleased with the results. He noted the team’s focus on fitness since the first RSEQ Cup a couple weeks ago.
“One thing that was glaring at the first Cup meet was that we weren’t as fit as we needed to be, and we’ve worked hard these past two weeks,” Carpenter said.
The added focus definitely paid off, as several members of the Martlets and Redmen qualified for the CIS Championship in February in Calgary, thanks to their performances on Saturday. In addition to those already qualified, McGill added Darling in the 200m backstroke and first-year Kathleen Caldwell, who earned three medals at the meet, in the 400m individual medley. Second-year Taryne Landry matched Caldwell with three medals of her own. As a whole, the team effort was far from understated.
“The sum of the parts is important,” Carpenter said. “I thought that as a group they really stepped up and supported each other well today.”
Looking forward to the rest of the season, the team is realistic about their difficult schedule. “The teams we’re up against are very, very tough … we will step up to the challenges [as] best [as] we can,” Carpenter said.
McGill will face stiff competition from Montreal’s women’s team and Laval’s men’s team in future RSEQ meets. The Martlet and Redmen swim teams will hit the pool again next weekend on Oct. 27, when they host Ottawa and Toronto in a Tri-Meet at Memorial Pool.
