Swimming (M & W) | 11/10/2018 11:56:00 PM
OTTAWA --
Clement Secchi won two gold medals and a pair of silvers, while teammate
Samuel Wang struck gold twice and claimed two bronzes to highlight a second-place finish for the McGill men's swim team at the third Quebec Cup meet of the season, held Saturday, at the University of Ottawa's Montpetit Hall.
On the women's side, McGill also placed second, producing 12 podium finishes, with one gold, two silvers and nine bronzes. Team captain
Rebecca Gillis, a 5-foot-6 sprinter from Dollard des Ormeaux, Que., paced the squad, winning medals in each colour.
Gillis won the 100-metre backstroke, qualifying for Nationals in 1:03.40. The 23-year-old psychology senior finished second in the 50 back (30.18 seconds) and third in the 4x200 freestyle relay (8:34.23) with sophomore teammates
Gabriella Doueihy, who hails from Lebanon,
Bailey Mothe of White Rock, B.C., and
Ella Milloy of Victoria, B.C.
"With a large part of the team really struggling to stay positive, Gillis was a beacon of hope and inner strength," said head coach
Peter Carpenter. "She was upbeat, led with a positive energy and swam the fastest time she has ever posted as a Martlet in the 50 back. Then she recorded a lifetime best in the 100 back, dominating the field and winning by a body length."
The Redmen duo of Secchi and Wang combined with
Brandon Freiberger, an engineering junior from Ladner, B.C., and
Kade Wist, an economics senior from Calgary, to win the 4x50 medley relay, which was clocked in 1:42.62.
Secchi, an 18-year-old management freshman from France, also won the 100 backstroke to qualify for Nationals in 55.24 seconds. His second-place finishes were in the 50 back (25.94) and the 50 butterfly, which had a qualifying time of 25.00. The 5-foot-10, 140-pound sprinter collected a combined 596.5 points on the international FINA scale to finish second in meet scoring, just shy of UdeM's
Vincent Laperle, who amassed 612 points to win male swimmer-of-the-meet honours.
Wang, a biochemistry junior from Sherbrooke, Que., also placed first in the 50 fly, with a qualifying time of 24.75. His third-place swims were in the 50 back (26.18) and the 100 back (56.82).
In the men's team scoring, the Montreal Carabins led the way with 422 points, followed by McGill (334.5), Ottawa (243), Laval (216.5), Sherbrooke (82) and UQTR (0).
The Carabins also took the women's division with 506 points, followed by McGill (298), Ottawa (252), Laval (175), Sherbrooke (42) and UQTR (25).
"Our women's team held their own despite missing a key point scorer (
Sarah Knott)," said Carpenter. "There was good progress for the ladies from their results in the first meet of the season and that was most encouraging.
"On the men's side, we had a difficult time on the whole and were overwhelmed by UdeM. With the team in the middle of tapering (toward the championship meet) some people found it hard to perform and struggled with an unorthodox pool," he offered, in reference to flags that seem misplaced, line on the bottom of the pool that did not appear to be in their normal placement and the electronic timing touch wall at the end, which was at water level.
"We are looking forward to next weekend in Halifax where we will have half the team fully prepared to go after their lifetime best times and hopefully qualify for Nationals."
COMPLETE RESULTS
McGILL MEDAL COUNT
