Martlets Artistic Swimming left the University of Laval’s Aquatic Centre on March 22 as the undisputed 2026 champions of the Canadian University Artistic Swimming League (CUASL), sweeping every event they entered across three days of competition.
This marked the program’s eighth championship in the past 12 seasons, and its 18th national title overall. Head Coach Lindsay Duncan, who has directed the program since 2014, described it as something she had never witnessed in her time at McGill.
Results like this do not happen by accident. They are the product of depth, preparation, and belief. McGill’s program has slowly built one of the most impressive dynasties in Canadian artistic swimming history.
Artistic swimming is one of the most physically demanding disciplines in competitive sport, and one of the most underappreciated. Athletes must synchronize every movement across an entire team, both above and below water, while executing choreography timed to the second—all without letting the audience see how hard they are working. With the slightest miscommunication, or the tiniest lapse in timing, a detailed plan can quickly unravel. It is a sport that rewards obsessive attention to detail and punishes anything less.
That is exactly the standard McGill’s Martlets met from start to finish.
McGill returned home with five major trophies: The Evelyn Young Trophy as the top overall university program, the John Drake Trophy for winning the experienced division, and the Wendy Yule Trophy for topping the novice division.
The Martlets also secured permanent possession of the Geraldine Dubrule Trophy, awarded to the league’s historically dominant program, a fitting distinction for a school that has claimed the national title more than any other since the CUASL’s founding in 2002. Named after Geraldine Dubrule, who spent 34 years coaching the program before her induction into the McGill Sports Hall of Fame in 2024, the trophy now belongs to the Martlets for good. The championship also marked an enthusiastic bounce-back from last year’s runner-up finish among 15 teams in Victoria.
The experienced division belonged entirely to third-year Pharmacology student Sonia Dunn. The Ottawa native swept her category, claiming gold in the solo, duet, and team events, and earning Experienced Athlete of the Meet honours—the top individual distinction available in her division. In the duet, Dunn partnered with Microbiology senior Clara Thomas, also from Ottawa, posting a score of 211.1759 to top the podium.
What made the result even more striking was that McGill claimed all three podium spots in the duet event, with the other two Martlet pairs taking silver and bronze while performing routines of difficulty unmatched by any other school. A clean sweep of a single event at a national championship is remarkably rare, and is the kind of outcome that underscores the prowess of McGill in the pool.
Dunn was also central to McGill’s gold-medal-winning experienced team, which performed a “Cirque du Soleil“–themed routine flawlessly. The 10-swimmer lineup drew on athletes at every stage of their careers, from younger contributors to fifth-year veterans like Master’s in Biology student April Ozere. Two additional McGill routines by the experienced team placed fifth and 14th, a pair of commendable performances to round out the weekend.
McGill equally dominated the novice division. First-year Education student Hailey Hertzog from Dollard-des-Ormeaux mirrored Dunn’s sweep perfectly, winning gold in solo, duet, and team events while earning Novice Athlete of the Meet honours. Hertzog’s duet partner was Stella Xu, and their novice team—which featured Natalia Romero, Cassandra Maheu, Laura Zhang, Quinn Varty, and Katherine Heald—turned in a strong performance.
Sweeping an entire division at a national championship is exceptional for any athlete. In a sport like artistic swimming—where precision, timing, and composure typically grow with experience—Hertzog’s performance shows the program’s future is exceptionally bright.
The fact that McGill produced both the experienced and novice athletes of the meet on the same weekend tells you everything you need to know about where this program stands.
As the Martlets head into their 75th anniversary season, they do so with five trophies, 18 national titles, and the confidence of a team that continues to set the standard in Canadian artistic swimming.