OTTAWA – Freshman
Loic Courville-Fortin won three gold medals and added a silver as McGill men's swim team swept its third consecutive RSEQ University Cup meet of the season on Saturday in the nation's capital.
The Redbirds amassed 569 points to finish well ahead of hometown Ottawa (431) in the six-team competition. Laval was a distant third (234), followed by Montreal (196), Sherbrooke (133.5) and UQTR (74.5).
The McGill men led all teams with 16 podiums in 11 races, collecting four gold medals, eight silvers and four bronzes. Ottawa (5-2-1) was next, followed by Montreal (1-0-2), Sherbrooke (1-0-2), Laval (0-1-1) and UQTR (0-0-1).
Alym Kurji, an 18-year-old freshman with the Ottawa Gee-Gees led all individual performances with four gold medals and was named swimmer of the meet.
Courville-Fortin, a 20-year-old science freshman from Repentigny, Que., won the 200-metre individual medley (2:03.48), the 50 backstroke (25.56) and the 100 back (55.07). The short-and middle-distance sprinter also helped McGill finish second in the 4x500 medley relay that touched the wall in 1:40.72. He swam leadoff, followed by
Erik Linseisen,
Tristan Govier and
Mathieu Ionescoux-Tremblay.
The other McGill gold was produced in the 4x200 freestyle relay, which was clocked in 7:31.70.
Mats Baradat swam the leadoff leg, followed by
Hocine Feddag,
Bruno Dehem-Lemelin and
Artiom Volodin.
"We were happy to walk away from Ottawa with another victory," said McGill head coach
Peter Carpenter. "The Gee-Gees were game and ready to go in their home pool and our men were actually losing the meet at the halfway point, which is the first time that has happened in more than a year. Ultimately our depth got us through in the end on both sides of the meet."
There is little time to sit on their laurels, however, as the team will race again less than 24 hours later, with a non-conference dual meet against the defending national champion Toronto Varsity Blues. The meet is dubbed "A Splash of Purple Fundraiser for Pancreatic Cancer Research" and kicks off on Saturday (Nov. 10) at 12 noon in the Currie Gym's Memorial Pool.
LINK TO WOMEN"S RECAP
COMPLETE RESULTS
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
CELL:
514-983-7012
E-MAIL:
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
