The cancellation of fall varsity sports due to the coronavirus pandemic, has created an opportunity for McGillAthletics.ca to profile two student-athletes every week. In our "Home & Away Series" we rotate between individuals that have elected to take online courses from their family home, and others that are doing their online studies from their on-campus residence.
Meet Gabriella Doueihy, a fourth-year McGill student and a native of Lebanon. A powerhouse on the Martlets swim team, she is majoring in physiology, with a minor in kinesiology.
One of four siblings, Doueihy decided to leave her homeland and return to Montreal in September for several reasons, but mainly because she wanted to be able to swim with her teammates.
"I spent 14 years swimming either alone or with my brother in Lebanon, so I have a strong preference for being here with other members of the team. It was great, for the first couple of weeks when I got back to Montreal we were practicing full-on, but since we entered the red zone that has stopped. I still keep in touch with a lot of teammates and look forward to getting back into the pool and to a more regular schedule."
Her decision to head back this fall was influenced by the terrible explosion in Beirut in early August and an exponential rise in COVID-19 cases in the small country which, when combined, created a less than ideal situation.
"It's a bit of a mess right now, and the cases are over 2,000 per day, which is a really high number for a relatively small population. Because of the crisis it is kind of crazy, so I am happy to be back here. My sister just got her visa approved as well, so she is going to be coming to McGill and living with me which I am really looking forward to. She will be arriving next week."
In terms of her path to McGill nearly four years ago, Gabriella had applied to schools in both the U.S. and Canada. While she always had her eye on McGill, head coach Peter Carpenter's outreach helped her make her final decision.
"He was very good, selling me on the program and filling me in on details and any questions that I had. I obviously feel as though I made a great decision coming here, and have really enjoyed my time. Of course, sometimes I miss family, but I'm an independent person and my brother and one of my sisters are still back home, so my parents still see them all the time. It will be great once my sister arrives, and things return to a more normal state. For now, I can focus on my studies and staying positive."
