Swimming
Swimming in front of friends and family at the 2014 Speedo CIS Championships, Toronto native Simone Cseplo broke five McGill records. The freshman capped an outstanding rookie season by earning second team All-Canadian status and a silver medal in the 50m backstroke (28.24)—McGill’s only podium finish of the weekend. Cseplo spearheaded the Martlet squad to a seventh-place finish out of 22 teams competing, which was one place higher than what the women achieved last year. On the men’s side, however, the team took a step back as the Redmen dropped from last year’s eighth-place finish to a disappointing 12th in this year’s final standings. Redmen captain Pierre-Alexandre Renaud, who was named RSEQ Swimmer-of-the-Year, broke a school record in the 200m butterfly (1:59.29), while junior Michael Luck broke the 50m breaststroke record (28.79). Other standouts included Taryne Landry and Katie Caldwell. Landry, who will be graduating in the spring, aided Cseplo in breaking 4x100m freestyle (3:47.93) and the 4x100m medley relay (4:13.81), while Caldwell, last year’s CIS rookie-of-the-year, was instrumental in the 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley, and the 4x200m freestyle (8:12.04). The McGill swimming program is expected to lose only six graduating seniors, and should be primed to return a bevy of athletes to next year’s national championships.
Track and Field
The Redmen and Martlet track and field teams disappointed in the RSEQ Championships this past weekend in Quebec City, placing third on both the men’s and women’s sides. This year’s Martlet squad took a significant step back from last year, in which they won their first banner since the 2007 season. The Redmen plateaued compared to last year but saw their point total drop from 84.5 to 82.
There were multiple individual standouts as McGill athletes won five gold medals. Maxime Beaumont-Corteau, Hao Xu, Caroline Tanguay, and Scott Hancock all continued their strong seasons and all have garnered multiple medals in previous competitions. In addition to this, the Redmen 4x200m relay team (1:30.84) also topped the podium.
