QUEBEC CITY – Hazem Issa, a native of Cairo, in Egypt, won five gold medals and a silver to earn athlete of the meet honours as the McGill University men's swim team captured the RSEQ conference championship, Sunday, to cap a three-day meet at Laval's Centre PEPS.
 
It was the fourth consecutive men's title for McGill and 20th overall since the Quebec conference was formed in 1971-72. The Redbirds also won their fourth consecutive RSEQ combined title, which incorporates all the points scored from men's and women's programs.
 
The McGill men collected 14 gold medals in 21 events, including all five relays, to go along with five  silvers and five bronzes. They also broke team and RSEQ records in the 4x50 freestyle relay, which was clocked in one minute, 29.09 seconds, erasing the mark initially set by McGill in 2021. The quartet was composed of lead-off swimmer Pablo Collin, a junior from France, senior Bruno Dehem-Lemelin  of Kirkland, Que., Hazem Issa and Mathieu Ionescoux-Tremblay, a freshman from St. Hubert, Que.

Issa, a 21-year-old civil engineering junior, was the top scoring male athlete of the meet with 792.5 points, which was calculated based on points tallied for every medal won, plus 50 per cent of the FINA points from the single best swim. The 6-foot-5, 212-pound sprinter won the 50-metre freestyle (22.61) and 50m butterfly (24.21). He also guided McGill to victory in three relays, the aforementioned 4x50 free (1:29.09), the 4x50 medley (1:38.60) and the 4x100 medley (3:38.65). His silver medal performance occurred in the 100 free (49.68).

Teammate Malachy Belkhelladi, a psychology junior from Montreal, matched Issa with five gold medals and also produced a bronze medal finish. He won the 200 free (1:48.28), was part of four winning relays and was third in the 50 free.

Erik Linseisen, a civil engineering junior from Burlington, Vt., posted four gold medal swims. He won the 200 individual medley (2:00.90) and was part of three winning relays.

Freshmen Mats Baradat, a native of France, and Tristan Govier of West Vancouver, B.C., along with senior Bruno Dehem-Lemelin of Kirkland, Que., each won three gold medals. Junior Pablo Collin and Mathieu Ionescoux, a freshman from St. Hubert, Que., were both double golden. Collin, a two-time winner of the Forbes Trophy as McGill's male athlete of the year, was stricken with an ear infection and spent park of his weekend in the hospital.

Other McGillians to strike gold were Robin Domingo, a sophomore from Greer, S.C., and Artiom Volodin, a freshman from Montreal.

The conference's major award recipients and all-stars will be announced on Monday.

The Redbirds racked up 920.5 points in the meet to outdistance second-place Ottawa (820). Host Laval finished third (615.5), followed by Montreal (441), Sherbrooke (195) and UQTR (45). half of the points scored in this meet counted towards the final RSEQ standings, which also incorporated percentages from the previous four Quebec University Cup meets.
 
"Our men needed to respond to Ottawa, which came on strong over the last two meets and we did just that,"  said McGill head coach Peter Carpenter. "I was super proud of how many incredible swims we had, and in the relays in particular. The record we set in the 4x50 freestyle relay, to beat the RSEQ record by more than two seconds, was mind-boggling. I knew that we had a good chance of a record but couldn't imagine that we could break it by that much. All of our relays were fantastic and a big reason was that we were challenged in a major way by Ottawa. Winning all five relays was something that we had discussed before the meet started and was a stated goal.  Despite an incredibly tough challenge from Ottawa's men who had an incredible meet as well our men were able to pull it off despite some very close calls in the medley relays especially."
 
The RSEQ all-stars and major award winners will be announced on Monday.

The Redbirds, who entered the weekend ranked No. 5 in the country, have qualified 18 swimmers, for the 2024 U SPORTS national championships, hosted by McGill at the Pte. Claire Aquatic Centre, March 7-9.

LINK TO WOMEN"S RECAP
 
LINK TO COMPLETE RESULTS
 
LINK TO RSEQ SWIM STANDINGS & RESULTS
 
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (cell.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca