WINNIPEG –
Diana Paparelli, a native of France, was named individual all-around champion in the novice division and led McGill to capture the Gerry Dubrule Trophy as national champions of the Canadian University Artistic Swimming League on Sunday. The three-day meet was held at the Pan Am Pool, built in southwest Winnipeg for the 1967 Pan American Games.
It marked the McGill team's seventh CUASL title in 10 seasons and 17th in 22 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.
McGill tallied 54 total points to edge out UBC (52) and finish first of 14 universities. Rounding out the top six schools was Dalhousie (38), Waterloo (33) Ottawa (29) and Toronto (29). Scoring is based upon points earned from solo, duet and team routines, in both the experienced and novice divisions.
The Martlets were third in the experienced division with 33 of their 54 points – behind UBC (48) and Dalhousie (38) – but gained significant ground by finishing first in the novice division, where they collected 21 points. McGill produced a Top 5 finish in all six events, including gold in all three novice events.
Paparelli
, a 21-year-old art history and anthropology senior, registered a pair of gold medal performances, along with one silver, to win the novice scoring title with 20 points overall. She finished ahead of teammate
Tara Fitzgerald (18), an Arts freshman from Ottawa, and Toronto's
Catherine Wang (17).
Paparelli placed first in the duet routine (along with Fitzgerald) and was part of the winning team routine. Her silver medal effort was in the solo routine, which was won by teammate
Irys Miciak, a first-year master's student from Hudson, Que. Paparelli hails from Biot, a medieval hilltop village in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur near Antibes, between Nice and Cannes.
McGill also collected the Wendy Yule Trophy for its first-place result of nine schools in the novice team routine, where it scored 115.4225 points. The squad, coached by
Teagan Rodrigues and
Tamar Banon, was composed of Paparelli, Fitzgerald and Miciak, along with Montrealers
Dali Jedrzejowski-Soccio and
Aya Shaban, in addition to sophomore
Sadie Wang of Waterloo, Ont.
"Our athletes rose to the occasion and really showed their technical skills and stamina," said McGill head coach
Lindsay Duncan. "We weren't able to field a team for two years because of the pandemic and last season was focused on rebuilding. With only one year of that, we have come back strong. And with a new judging system in place for the first time, we had to create routines that were far more challenging than in in the past. Though we are coming away with the Gerry Dubrule Trophy, we know we have lots to work on for next year. The competition is stiff, but our athletes and coaches are as motivated as ever."
In the experienced division, the Martlets had two teams in the Top 10, both scoring points towards the overall total.
"Our top team in the experienced category had a sports theme and we used real McGill play-by-play (audio) from Redbirds and Martlets soccer, football, and hockey games this season, laid over our music," said Duncan. "It was a huge crowd favourite."
UBC's
Marissa Enns was named individual all-around champion in the experienced section with 38 points. Rounding out the top three scorers was Dalhousie's
Sarah Regan (30) and McGill's
Kayla Drew (22).
Drew, a kinesiology freshman from Chilliwack, B.C., posted a bronze medal finish in the experienced solo routine, where she scored 123.7188 points. Finishing ahead of her on the podium was Regan (160.7313) and Enns (124.8292).
The experienced duet routine was won by the Dalhousie pairing of Regan and
Imogen Brander-McMullen.
McGill finished fifth of 22 entries with the duo of
Catherine McGee and
Olivia McLaughlin.
UBC won the experienced team routine with 180.4396 points, followed by McGill in second (172). the silver medal group included Drew, McGee and McLaughlin, along with
Emilie Charette,
Anna Dolgova,
April Ozere,
Annemarie Salama-Siroishka,
Clara Thomas and
Alexa Vaillancourt. They were coached by Duncan and Banon.
McGILL ARTISTIC SWIM TEAM ROSTER
ALL-TIME LIST OF CUASL 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 Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
