QUEBEC CITY – The McGill artistic swim squad captured four of six events at the Eastern meet of the Canadian University Artistic Swimming League, a two-day competition hosted by Université Laval at the Lucien Flamand pool, Feb. 10-11.

Diana Paparelli, an art history and anthropology sophomore from Biot, in France, paced the Martlets with a pair of gold medal performances and a bronze in the novice solo routine.

Paparelli teamed up with Tara Fitzgerald of Ottawa, to guide McGill to victory in the novice duet routine. She also helped the novice team routine to victory with a group that included Fitzgerald, Sadie Wang of Waterloo and Montrealers Dali Jedrzejowski-Soccio and Aya Shaban, along with Irys Miciak of Hudson, Que.

Miciak, a first-year master's student, also struck gold in the novice solo routine.

"We are really pleased with how our athletes performed over the weekend," said McGill head coach Lindsay Duncan. "This was our first time competing full-length routines choreographed for the new judging system. The routines are much more technically difficult than they have been in past years and we looked fit and strong."

In the experienced division, McGill won the team routine with a group composed of Emilie Charette of Oakville, Ont., Anna Dolgova of Saskatoon, Chloe Gavrilovic of Ottawa, Catherine McGee of Toronto, Olivia McLaughlin of Montreal, April Ozere of Halifax Annemarie Salama-Siroishka of Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Que., Clara Thomas of Ottawa, Alexa Vaillancourt of Newton, Mass., and Kayla Drew from Chilliwack, B.C.

Drew, a kinesiology freshman, also posted a bronze medal finish in the experienced solo category.

In the experienced duet routine, there were no notable results for McGill, which had already earned a bye in this event to the upcoming Nationals, to be held in Winnipeg, Mar. 15-17.

"We still have one month to go until the national championships so we will be working on increasing our fitness to ensure we get credit for all the difficulty," Duncan added. "McGill is looking strong overall so I expect us to be a contender for the overall title."

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)