CALGARY -- McGill swimmers Steven Bielby and Katie Caldwell won gold and silver medals, respectively, on the final day of the 2013 CIS championships at the University of Calgary Aquatic Centre, Saturday.

COMPLETE RESULTS: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/swim/index.
 
Swimming in the last official race of a brilliant McGill career, the 22-year-old team captain from Pointe Claire, Que., guided the Redmen to an eighth-place finish out of 22 competing teams. Bielby, who measures 5-foot-9 and weighs 155 pounds soaking wet, won the 200-metre individual medley in two minutes flat, breaking both his own school and RSEQ conference record of 2:00.24, which he set in 2011, also in Calgary.

It was the second race victory of the weekend for the graduate student in electrical engineering, who took the 400 IM (4:15.14) on Thursday. It also marked a McGill best-ever 13th career CIS medal, which includes a school record eight golds, one CIS silver and four bronzes. Bielby merited CIS all-Canadian status for the fourth time and has earned a berth to represent Canada for the third time at the FISU world university games, slated to be held in Russia this summer.

Caldwell, an 18-year-old secondary education freshman from White Rock, B.C., won silver in the 200 IM after capturing bronze in the 400 IM (4:44.83) on Thursday. She was clocked in 2:13.25, well behind Erica Morningstar, the two-time Canadian Olympian from the Calgary Dinos, who crossed the finish line in 2:10.49. Caldwell, who also garnered CIS second-team all-Canadian honours, led the Martlets to an eighth-place finish, an improvement of three spots over the previous year.

Morningstar announced after the race that it would be her final meet as she takes a break from the sport to consider her options moving forward. She joined her Dinos teammates atop the podium one last time by swimming the backstroke leg of Calgary's gold medal-winning medley relay along with Fiona Doyle, Lindsay Delmar, and Amanda Reason.

"We achieved one of our goals here, with both the men and women finishing in the top 10 and while I am satisfied with the results, I am already looking forward to next year, so that we can continue to take things further with this team," said McGill head coach Peter Carpenter.  "We will obviously miss having  Bielby with us next year!  He is completely irreplaceable but we will soldier on and look to our other leaders to try and rise to the standard he has set over the past five years."

Other McGill records to fall over the three-day meet:

- Caldwell completed the 200 free in 2:00.90 on the leadoff leg of the women's 4x200 free relay
- Pierre-Alexandre Renaud, a sophomore from Laval, Que., swam the 200 free in 1:49.70
- the Redmen 4x200 free relay crossed the line in 7:24.89 with a quartet consisting of Montrealer Marc-Andre Benoit on the lead-off leg, followed by Bielby, Erik Cheng of Ile Bizard, Que., and Renaud.

The Toronto Varsity Blues put an end to 18 years of western domination, emerging victorious in an extraordinary three-way race to capture the CIS men's title.
 
In women's action, the UBC Thunderbirds captured their second consecutive national banner with 691.5 points, ahead of the second-place Calgary Dinos (548). But while the women's race was a foregone conclusion through much of the meet as the Thunderbirds kept pulling away, the men's race was a three-way dogfight for the first time in recent memory and it all came down to the final event, the 4x100-metre medley relay.
 
When the dust had settled, the Varsity Blues found themselves atop the team standings with a 15-point cushion, 539-524 over UBC. Calgary finished just 10 points in arrears of the Thunderbirds with 514 points.
 
The Thunderbirds won the final, with Kelly Aspinall, Sergey Holson, Coleman Allen, and Luke Peddie beating out the Calgary foursome to claim gold. But that win still didn't provide enough to leapfrog the Blues, who finished fifth in the event – enough to bring home their CIS title.
 
“I've been doing this over 30 years, and this is the first time I remember a three-team race like this,” said longtime Varsity Blues head coach Byron McDonald, who was named the CIS men's team coach of the year. “It brought out the best in our swimmers, and it was something they'll remember for the rest of their lives. It's nice to win by 150 points, but you don't really remember that – when our swimmers go home, they'll remember this forever.”
 
“I'm really proud of our guys,” said UBC head coach Steve Price, who earned the women's coach of the year award. “They stepped up and battled all the way to the end, and that's all I can ask of them. Our women are a dominant team – they stepped up and got better and better as the meet went on. They're a proud bunch of girls and they showed that today.”
 
While the men's team title heads east after the Dinos and Thunderbirds combined to win 18 consecutive CIS banners, the individual athlete hardware stayed mostly west. UBC swept the swimmer of the year awards with Savannah King taking her second consecutive MVP honour while fifth-year men's teammate Kelly Aspinall also won individual laurels.
 
King, a 2012 Olympian, swept the distance freestyle events with gold medals at both 400 and 800 metres. Aspinall, meanwhile, set championship records in the 50-and-100 backstroke events.
 
“It's so exciting to get two in a row,” enthused King of her team's back-to-back national titles. “We fell off the rails for a few years, but we're back on top and I think it's going to continue. I'm excited to be part of it.”
 
“I'm really happy with the meet,” said Aspinall. “I met a lot of goal times, got on the (FISU) team, and I'm walking away from the CIS meet really happy with what I've done. Our team put up a great fight, and I'm really proud of the guys.”
 
The top rookie honours went to Calgary freshman Tianna Rissling on the women's side, while Victoria's Eric Hedlin received the men's award. Rissling won a total of four individual medals at the event, including gold in both the 50 breaststroke and the 400 individual medley. Her IM swim on Thursday night set a new championship record, and she finished a mere handful of points behind King in the overall swimmer-of-the-year standings.
 
On the men's side, Hedlin's performance in the swimming marathon, the 1500 free, won him a gold medal and top rookie honours with his time of 15:13.23. He and his Vikes teammates swept the podium in the event, with Will Brothers taking silver and Richard Weinberger bronze.
 
The student-athlete community service awards went to Erica Dugas from Brock and David Dorian from U of T.
 
Joining Aspinall wrapping up his CIS career with a pair of championship records was Calgary captain Jason Block, who swept the breaststroke events for the third time in four years. Block, who set a CIS record in the 100 breast on Thursday, added another in the 50 breast Saturday, with his time of 27.22 seconds. He wraps up his CIS career with 11 gold and one silver medal in that stroke over the past five seasons.
 
Saturday night featured a number of marquee swimming events, from the women's 800 and men's 1500  free to the medley relay and the 100 free. In the 100, UQTR's Caroline Lapierre-Lemire out-touched UBC's Heather McLean to take the gold medal and win the Sprinter's Cup, awarded annually to an athlete that sweeps the 50 and 100 freestyle events. Lapierre-Lemire set a CIS championship record in the 50 free on Friday night and was thrilled with her repeat performance.
 
“I'm very, very happy,” said Lapierre-Lemire. “Especially after the night I had last night, I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it again. To come back tonight and get another win, I can't ask for anything more. It's just been a great meet for me.”
 
Other gold medallists on the day included Calgary's Gleb Suvorov and Montreal's Gabrielle Soucisse in their respective 200 backstroke events. Dominique Massey-Martel of Laval was crowned champion of the men's 100 free.
 
 

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS
 
Women
Swimmer of the year: Savannah King, UBC
Rookie of the year: Tianna Rissling, Calgary
Sprinter's Cup (single winner of both 50 and 100 free): Caroline Lapierre-Lemire, UQTR
Coach of the year: Steve Price, UBC
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Erica Dugas, Brock
 
Men
Swimmer of the year: Kelly Aspinall, UBC
Rookie of the year: Eric Hedlin, Victoria
Sprinter's Cup (single winner of both 50 and 100 free): Not awarded
Coach of the year: Byron MacDonald, Toronto
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: David Dorian, Toronto
 
NOTE (swimmers of the year): Female and male swimmers with the highest aggregate point total for his/her two best swims as based on Swim Canada's performance charts.
 
NOTE (All-Canadians): All gold medallists at the CIS championships - including relays - are first-team all-Canadians for the 2012-13 season. All silver medallists - who did not win a gold medal - are second-team all-Canadians.

 
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
 
Women
 
1. UBC, 691.5 points
2. Calgary, 548
3. Toronto, 300
4. Montreal, 270.5
5. Dalhousie, 251
6. Western, 216
7. Laval, 164
8. McGill, 160
9. Alberta, 150.5
10. UQTR, 148
11. McMaster, 133
12. Victoria, 97
13. Ottawa, 84
14. Guelph, 78
15. Wilfrid Laurier, 26
16. Manitoba,  25
17. Sherbrooke, 15.5
18. Laurentian, 14
19. UQAM, 10
20. Regina, 7
21. Brock, 3
22. UNB, 1
 
Men (Nelson C. Hart trophy)
 
1. Toronto, 539 points
2. UBC, 524
3. Calgary, 514
4. Victoria, 273.5
5. Laval, 246
6. Alberta, 239
7. McMaster, 180
8. McGill, 171.5
9. Montreal, 143
10. Western, 142
11. Dalhousie, 127
12. Lethbridge, 82
13. Ottawa, 66
14. Guelph, 62
15. Manitoba, 37
16. Acadia, 14
17. Waterloo, 12
18. Regina, 3
 
DAY 3 INDIVIDUAL MEDALLISTS (Saturday)
 
Women 800m Free
1. Savannah King, UBC, 8:33.74
2. Gabrielle Soucisse, Montreal, 8:38.83
3. Bridget Coley, Toronto, 8:44.47
 
Men 50m Breast
1. Jason Block, Calgary, 27.22 (CIS Championship Record)
2. Brian Lee, Toronto, 27.95
3. Kevin Deret, Laval, 28.10
 
W 50m Breast
1. Tianna Rissling, Calgary, 30.97
2. Fiona Doyle, Calgary, 31.00
3. Tera Van Beilen, UBC, 31.11
 
M 200m Back
1. Gleb Suvorov, Calgary, 1:55.29
2. Matthew Byers, Toronto, 1:55.89
3. Russell Wood, Calgary, 1:55.95
 
W 200m Back
1. Gabrielle Soucisse, Montreal, 2:07.74
2. Geneviève Cantin, Laval, 2:08.67
3. Taylor Moore, Ottawa, 2:11.93
 
M 100m Free
1. Dominique Massey-Martel, Laval, 48.55
2. Kelly Aspinall, UBC, 49.16
3. Evan Van Moerkerke, Guelph, 49.28
 
W 100m Free
1. Caroline Lapierre-Lemire, UQTR, 54.51
2. Heather MacLean, UBC, 54.65
3. Brittney Harley, UBC, 55.36
 
M 200m IM
1. Steven Bielby, McGill, 2:00.00
2. Cameron Bailey, McMaster, 2:00.32
3. Bogdan Knezevic, Calgary, 2:00.48
 
W 200m IM
1. Erica Morningstar, Calgary, 2:10.49
2. Katie Caldwell, McGill, 2:13.25
3. Sarah-Lee Hevey, Montreal, 2:13.65
 
M 1500m Free
1. Eric Hedlin, Victoria, 15:13.23
2. Will Brothers, Victoria, 797
3. Richard Weinberger, Victoria, 771
 
W 4 x 100m Medley Relay
1. Calgary 4:02.86
(Erica Morningstar, Fiona Doyle, Lindsay Delmar, Amanda Reason)
2. UBC 4:03.88
(Erin Stamp, Tera Van Beilen, Grainne Pierse, Heather MacLean)
3. Montreal 4:10.61
(Gabrielle Soucisse, Marie-Soleil Jean-Lachapelle, Marie-Pierre Berube, Sarah-Lee Hevey)
 
M 4 x 100m Medley Relay
1. UBC 3:35.10
(Kelly Aspinall, Sergey Holson, Coleman Allen, Luke Peddie)
2. Calgary 3:35.57
(Russell Wood, Jason Block, Gleb Suvorov, David Woodman)
3. Laval 3:37.90
(Pascal-Hugo Caron-Cantin, Kevin Deret, Quentin Martin, Dominique Massey-Martel)
 
DAY 2 INDIVIDUAL MEDALLISTS (Friday)
 
Women 100m Back
1. Gabrielle Soucisse, Montreal, 59.08
2. Geneviève Cantin, Laval, 1:00.59
3. Erica Morningstar, Calgary, 1:00.81
 
Men 100m Back
1. Kelly Aspinall, UBC, 51.95 (CIS Championship Record)
2. David Sharpe, Dalhousie, 52.34
3. Russell Wood, Calgary, 53.23
 
W 50m Fly
1. Caroline Lapierre-Lemire, UQTR, 27.22
2. Kendra Chernoff, Alberta, 27.29
3. Alisha Harricharan, Guelph, 27.42
 
M 50m Fly
1. Mike Smerek, Toronto, 23.69
2. Coleman Allen, UBC, 24.02
3. Joshua Au, Alberta, 24.37
 
W 400m Free
1. Savannah King, UBC, 4:09.24
2. Lindsay Delmar, Calgary, 4:13.44
3. Julianne Brown, Calgary, 4:14.09
 
M 400m Free
1. Frank Despond, Toronto, 3:49.77
2. Eric Hedlin, Victoria, 3:52.95
3. Robert Wise, Western, 3:53.63
 
W 200m Breast
1. Tera Van Beilen, UBC, 2:23.87
2. Fiona Doyle, Calgary, 2:24.94
3. Tianna Rissling, Calgary, 2:25.25
 
M 200m Breast
1. Jason Block, Calgary, 2:09.86
2. Frédéric Le Blanc, Montreal, 2:12.41
3. Evan Broderick, UBC, 2:13.31
 
W 50m Free
1. Caroline Lapierre-Lemire, UQTR, 24.87 (CIS Championship Record)
2. Erica Morningstar, Calgary, 25.15
3. Amanda Reason, Calgary, 25.53
 
M 50m Free
1. Kelly Aspinall, UBC, 22.16
2. Luke Peddie, UBC, 22.42
3. Evan Van Moerkerke, Guelph, 22.46
 
W 200m Fly
1. Stephanie Horner, Victoria, 2:12.93
2. Vanessa Treasure, Toronto, 2:13.21
3. Lindsay Delmar, Calgary, 2:16.36
 
M 200m Fly
1. Zach Chetrat, Toronto, 1:55.59
2. Coleman Allen, UBC, 1:58.10
3. Thomas Jobin, Calgary, 1:59.40
 
W 4 x 200m Free Relay
1. UBC, 8:00.55
(Savannah King, Brittney Harley, Tera Van Beilen, Heather MacLean)
2. Calgary, 8:02.15
(Fiona Doyle, Lindsay Delmar, Amanda Reason, Julianne Brown)
3. Toronto, 8:14.99
(Andrea Jurenovskis, Jennifer Tapley, Bridget Coley, Vanessa Treasure)
 
M 4 x 200m Free Relay
1. Calgary, 7:14.27
(Russell Wood, Reid Scarrow, David Woodman, Connor Maxey)
2. Toronto, 7:18.33
(Frank Despond, Matthew Myers, David Riley, Zack Chetrat)
3. Alberta, 7:19.58
(Hunter Balch, Joe Byram, Joshua Au, Robert MacKinnon)
 
DAY 1 INDIVIDUAL MEDALLISTS (Thursday)
 
Women 200m Free
1. Lindsay Delmar, Calgary, 1:58.46
2. Heather MacLean, UBC, 1:59.19
3. Savannah King, UBC, 1:59.54
 
Men 200m Free
1. Coleman Allen, UBC, 1:46.40
2. David Woodman, Calgary, 1:47.39
3. Keegan Zanatta, Victoria, 1:47.52
 
W 50m Back
1. Gabrielle Soucisse, Montreal, 28.03
2. Grainne Pierse, UBC, 28.05
3. Andrea Jurenovskis, Toronto, 28.30
 
M 50m Back
1. Kelly Aspinall, UBC, 24.05 (CIS Championship Record)
2. David Sharpe, Dalhousie, 24.56
3. Russell Wood, Calgary, 24.64
 
W 100m Breast
1. Fiona Doyle, Calgary, 1:06.57
2. Tianna Rissling, Calgary, 1:06.72
3. Tera Van Beilen, UBC, 1:06.80
 
M 100m Breast
1. Jason Block, Calgary, 59.08 (CIS Championship Record)
2. Konrad Bald, McMaster, 1:00.14
3. Kevin Deret, Laval, 1:00.88
 
W 100m Fly
1. Alisha Harricharan, Guelph, 59.72
2. Kendra Chernoff, Alberta, 59.77
3. Alana Skocdopole, Calgary, 1:01.17
 
M 100m Fly
1. Coleman Allen, UBC, 51.88 (CIS Championship Record)
2. Zach Chetrat, Toronto, 52.58
3. David Sharpe, Dalhousie, 53.07
 
W 400m IM
1. Tianna Rissling, Calgary, 4:37.81 (CIS Championship Record)
2. Vanessa Treasure, Toronto, 4:42.88
3. Katie Caldwell, McGill, 4:44.83
 
M 400m IM
1. Steven Bielby, McGill, 4:15.14
2. Jeremie Holdom, Toronto, 4:19.67
3. Patrick Cowan, UBC, 4:20.21
 
W 4 x 100m Free Relay
1. Calgary 3:40.34
(Erica Morningstar, Amanda Reason, Lindsay Delmar, Fiona Doyle)
2. UBC 3:42.47
(Heather McLean, Rebecca Terejko, Brittney Harley, Fionnuala Pierse)
3. McMaster 3:45.45
(Emma Mittermaier, Sarah Taylor, Emily Fung, Meg Sloan)
 
M 4 x 100m Free Relay
1. UBC 3:15.53
(Kelly Aspinall, Luke Peddie, Sergey Holson, Coleman Allen)
2. Calgary 3:16.94
(David Woodman, Russell Wood, Connor Maxey, Bryan Wray)
3. Toronto 3:18.40
(Mike Smerek, Brian Lee, Luke Hall, Matthew Myers)


SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
514-398-7012