MONTREAL --
Clement Secchi, who hails from Aix-en-Provence in France, was named swimmer of the meet as the McGill University men's team finished first of six schools at the season-opening Quebec Cup meet, held on campus at the Memorial Pool, Saturday.
The McGill men collected a haul of four gold medals, three silvers and one bronze en route to scoring 365 points. They finished 61 points ahead of the archrival Montreal Carabins, who ended up second.
The Carabins did capture the women's side of the meet with 441 points to finish ahead of second-place McGill (343). The Martlets won three gold medals -- all by rookie
Daphne Danyluk of Montreal -- plus three silvers and four bronzes. Danyluk was part of another highlight for the McGill women, setting a school record in the 4x50 medley relay. They finished second with a time of 1:56.39, erasing a five-year-old mark of 1:57.67.
Secchi, a 19-year-old management sophomore who won the prestigious Forbes Trophy as McGill male athlete of the year last season, continued where he left off. The 5-foot-10, 140-pound sprinter collected a meet-high three gold medals and one silver.
He won the 50-metre backstroke (0:25.16) and the 100 back (0:54.03), meeting qualifying standards in both. Secchi also helped the 4x50 freestyle relay squad finish atop the podium in 1:31.64. His silver-medal result was in the 200 individual medley (2:01.20).
Other McGill teammates to win multiple races included freshman
Tengbo (Brian) Yu, who hails from Beijing, and
Marius Collin, a junior from Marseille, in southern France.
Yu struck gold in the aforementioned 4x50 and was also golden in the 4x50 medley relay (1:43.28). He added a silver medal finish in the 50 butterfly.
Collin joined him on both winning relays, to go along with one silver and a bronze. Rounding out the 4x50 MR quartet was junior
Samuel Lasinski of Penticton, B.C., and
Kade Wist, a senior from Calgary.
Brandon Freiberger, an electrical engineering senior from Ladner, B.C., teamed up with Yu, Secchi and Collin on the winning 4x50 FR.
On the women's side, Danyluk's stunning triple golden performance was the individual highlight of the day. The 20-year-old anatomy and cellular biology freshman won the 50 back (0:28.86), the 100 back (1:02.10) and the 200 fly (2:19.21).
"She was the only person in the meet to win three individual events and somehow managed to do that in a span of just 45 minutes," said head coach
Peter Carpenter of his impressive sprinter who finished second in the scoring for athlete-of-the-meet honours, a title awarded to UdeM's
Anais Arlandis, who won four gold medals (two of them on relays).
Joining Danyluk on the record-breaking relay was first-year U of T transfer
Kelsey Crocker from Calgary, junior
Nathalie Paquin of Dorval, Que., and
Nikki van Noord. a junior from Hudson, Que.
"I was very happy with our compete level," noted Carpenter. "With all of the holes we had in our line-up for various reasons, I asked them to focus on being their best and strive to be the best performing team at the meet. To have the most close calls with best times, to swim with the best technique and race strategies.
"I didn't even think about the points (in the team scoring) until the meet was over. And in the end (for us) to have won the men's side and have our women close the gap with Montreal the way we did, was very satisfying!"
Up next for McGill is the Kemp-Fry Invitational meet, hosted by Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nov. 15-17.
COMPLETE RESULTS
2019-20 Quebec Cup Swim Meet #1 (@ McGill)
ATHLETES OF MEET:
M: Clement Secchi, McG
W: Anais Alrandis, MTL
TEAM SCORING:
MEN:
1. McGill, 365
2. Montreal, 304
3. Ottawa, 292
4. Laval, 276
5. Sherbrooke, 38
6. UQTR 12
WOMEN:
1. Montreal, 441 pts.
2. McGill, 343
3. Ottawa, 269
4. Laval, 194
5. UQTR, 36
6. Sherbrooke, 16
