QUEBEC CITY --
Clement Secchi, a native of Aix-en-Provence in France, won three gold medals and added a bronze to merit swimmer-of-the-meet honours at the fourth Quebec Cup university competition of the RSEQ conference, Saturday,
It was the team's second consecutive long-course race of the season, held on back-to-back days at the Centre PEPS on the campus of Université de Laval. The majority of McGill's meets are normally in a 25-yard (short-course) pool.
The McGill men posted seven podiums, winning five gold medals and three bronzes to finish second with a score of 305 points behind Ottawa (333 points). Montreal was third (298), followed by Laval (188) and Sherbrooke (33).
In the women's division, rookie
Daphne Danyluk of Rivière-des-Prairies, Que., collected one gold and two silver medal finishes to pace the Martlets, who registered seven podiums, including an additional silver and three bronzes. The Montreal Carabins won the meet with 370 points; followed by McGill (289), Ottawa (236), Laval (200) and Sherbrooke (36).
"The team has put themselves in a position where it will be possible to achieve all of our seasonal goals," said
Peter Carpenter, in his 11th season as head coach at McGill.
Secchi, a 19-year-old management sophomore, was the top-scorer in the men's division with 608.5 points to finish ahead of Ottawa's
Davide Casarin (580.5) and has now swept swimmer-of-the-meet honours in all four Quebec Cup races this season. The only other McGill male to accomplish that feat was
Steven Bielby in the 2011-12 season.
The 5-foot-10 sprinter, finished first in the 200-metre backstroke (2:07.11) and the 100 butterfly (55.64). He also claimed gold in the 4x100 medley relay (3:52.19) alongside
Matthew Wittman of Toronto,
William Hein of Holliston, Mass., and
Marius Collin, a native of Marseille, France.
Teammate
Brian Yu, an 18-year-old physical education freshman from Beijing, claimed victory in both the 50 breaststroke (29.70) and 100 breast (1:05.79).
On the women's side, Danyluk won the 200 backstroke in 2:19.18. The 21-year-old anatomy freshman posted second-place finishes in both, the 400 individual medley (5:02.38) and the 4x100 medley relay (4:23.22). The foursome also included
Grace Valihora of Toronto,
Kelsey Crocker of Calgary and
Nikki van Noord of Hudson, Que.
Despite missing two key swimmers in
William Simpson and
Claire Shewchuk to illness this weekend coach Carpenter was happy with where the team stands going into the final stretch of the season.
"I'm not surprised (with the great results over the two weekend races) because we had an amazing training camp," said Carpenter, whose squad spent the post-Christmas break at a training centre in the Bahamas.
The team will now gear up for RSEQ championships at Université de Sherbrooke, Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, with their eyes on winning the league banner. McGill's last swim title was in 2018 for the men and in 2012 for the women. Their last combined title was in 2004.
MEET RESULTS
RSEQ SWIMMING STATS & STANDINGS
