VANCOUVER, BC --
Maria Gheta was named individual all-around champion for the second consecutive year as McGill captured the Canadian University Artistic Swimming League title, at the UBC Aquatic Centre, Sunday.
It marked McGill's sixth Gerry Dubrule championship trophy in seven seasons and 16th in 19 years overall since the league was formed in 2001-02. Formerly known as synchronized swimming, the sport was renamed in 2018 by FINA, the international body that governs aquatic sports.
Gheta, a 21-year-old atmospheric science major who was born in Romania but raised in Montreal, struck gold twice and claimed one silver. She led McGill's elite "White" squad to the team routine title, then joined up with her older sister
Ioana Gheta, to place first of 10 finalists in the duet routine. The 5-foot-9 sophomore also finished second in the solo routine with 73.5667 points, fractions behind Laval's
Gabrielle Boisvert (73.7333).
The Gheta sisters actually tied the duet from Ottawa in the duet event but the tie was broken by the score for artistic impression and the McGillians scored 0.4 points higher than the Ottawa duo.
"Everyone performed exceptionally well. We knew we had a very talented team but on top of that, everyone worked extremely hard all season long and was very focused going into the weekend," said head coach
Lindsay Duncan, who also teaches in the faculty of kinesiology and physical education.
"Since the Eastern Canadian championships three weeks ago we worked hard on building up endurance and confidence," added Duncan, whose squad featured 29 athletes that trained for 11 routines and competed in six events. "The work really paid off in high-intensity, polished performances by all of our athletes and fantastic results to show for it. I am incredibly proud."
The winning white squad -- one of two McGill entries in the team routine -- featured the Gheta sisters, along with
Emilie Charette of Oakville, Ont.,
April Ozere of Halifax,
Katherine Demond of Bridgewater, N.S.,
Lily Dong of Kanata, Ont.,
Sophia Ju of Andover, Mass.,
Annemarie Salama-Siroishka of Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Que., and Montrealer
Emma Rispler.
McGill also shone in the novice category, winning gold in the duet and team routines.
The duet pairing, coached by
Lily Dong, featured
Christina Wang of Waterloo, Ont., and
Mathilde Lotz, who hails from France.
Michely Chen, a native of Taiwan, won the individual all-around title in the novice category. The master's student in experimental medicine won gold with the team event and posted a silver medal finish in the solo routine.
The winning novice group, coached by
Carrie Mouck, featured Chen, Lotz and Wang, along with
Leah Birch of Hudson, Que.,
Lorna Fernandez-Ciruela from Spain,
Taylor Hu of Vancouver, B.C., and
Joy Tseng, also from Taiwan, along with the sister act of
Angely Te and
Tiffany Te, both from Montreal.
SEE COMPLETE McGILL ARTISTIC SWIM TEAM ROSTER
ALL-TIME LIST OF NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
(Geraldine Dubrule Trophy)
| 2002 |
McGill |
| 2003 |
McGill |
| 2004 |
Western |
| 2005 |
McGill |
| 2006 |
McGill |
| 2007 |
McGill |
| 2008 |
McGill |
| 2009 |
McGill |
| 2010 |
McGill |
| 2011 |
McGill |
| 2012 |
McGill |
| 2013 |
UPEI |
| 2014 |
McGill |
| 2015 |
McGill |
| 2016 |
McGill |
| 2017 |
McGill |
| 2018 |
Ottawa |
| 2019 |
McGill |
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Info Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgill athletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)
