Adam Scotti

On Friday evening, McGill hosted the University of Montreal and the University of Ottawa for a lightning-quick three-team swim meet. The teams sped through the 28 events in just over two hours.  

This was the second event of the year for the Martlets and Redmen as they tune up for the CIS season.

Although Friday’s meet was not officially scored, the three schools swam competitively. Overall, the Ottawa Gee Gees fielded the highest number of swimmers and took home an impressive 15 golds. The University of Montreal Carabins came second, winning nine events,  and McGill ended the meet with five first-place finishes. Despite taking home the fewest gold medals, McGill’s spirits were high as the team expressed their excitement for the upcoming season.

“There were a lot of races to do so everyone had to do a good job of getting up on the block with a positive attitude and diving in and giving it their best, and I think they did that,” said Head Coach Peter Carpenter.  

For the Martlets, senior Maxime Charron won both the 50m breaststroke and the 100m breaststroke, continuing her strong start to the season after a successful performance at last year’s national championships. Sophomore Sophie G. de Tonnacour won the 50m freestyle with an impressive time of 29.27 seconds. Finishing one-hundredth of a second behind her was freshman teammate Rayven Snodgrass.

For the Redmen, star swimmer and two-time all-Canadian Steven Bielby is back for his third year.  He is one of McGill’s most decorated athletes with seven CIS medals, four of which are gold. Bielby finished the 200m individual medley with an incredible lead.  He clocked in with a time of 2:09.70, over 10 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. He was also on three relay teams.

As the newly elected captain of the Redmen, Bielby is positive about the team’s upcoming season.

“The team is moving in the right direction, so I think we’re doing well,” he said. “I think the team really stepped it up and built on our performances from last week.”  

As for individual goals, he aims to continue his success at the national level and qualify for the International University Sports Federation games in Shenzen, China this upcoming August.

Senior swimmers Joseph Toops and Patrick Mazurek also excelled.  Toops won the 50m freestyle with a time of 24.22 seconds, and was also a member of two second-place relay teams. Mazurek also had a very strong performance clocking 1:59.72 in the 200m freestyle.

With the addition of 12 new recruits—seven women and five men—McGill Swimming has a lot of potential.  Particularly, newcomer Jennifer Darling is one to watch.

“There were some standout swims. Jenn Darling’s 100 backstroke at 1:07, it was potentially the best time for her,” Carpenter said.   

The Martlets and Redmen have their goals set high for this season.  Martlets captain and fifth-year veteran Joanie Stilling is very optimistic.

“I think this year our main goals [are] to do better at QSSFs and try to go for the title,” Stilling said.

Next up for the team is a dual meet against the University of Toronto at home on October 30.  Toronto is a powerhouse, and Carpenter is looking forward to the competition.  

“It’s going to be good for our guys to be able to step up and race hard,” Carpenter said.