McGill relay team wins gold on Day 1 at RSEQ swim championships
MONTREAL -- McGill surprised the field by winning gold and breaking school and conference records in the men's 4x50-metre freestyle relay on Day 1 of the RSEQ swim championships, a three-day meet hosted by the Universite de Montreal at the CEPSUM pool, Friday. It was a solid opening round for McGill, which also took home three silvers and a bronze.
The winning Redmen quartet was composed of Gabriel Fortin, a freshman from Brossard, Que., in the leadoff spot, followed by senior Marc-Andre Benoit of St. Hyacinthe, Que., sophomore Luke Robert of Ottawa and Michael Luck, a senior from Beaconsfield, Que., who swam the anchor leg. Their sizzling time of one minute, 31.96 seconds destroyed the previous RSEQ mark of 1:33.09 set by Laval in 2009. The old McGill record was 1:33.30, set in 2011 by Tyler Manning-Dahan, Steven Bielby, Joseph Toops and Diego Pessoa.
As gold medalists, the winning foursome automatically merited conference all-star status.
Claiming silver in the women's 800 freestyle was Jessica Warrack, an engineering freshman from Calgary, who had already qualified for Nationals. Also in the 800 free, Leena Struzina, a chemical engineering freshman became the 15th McGill swimmer this season to qualify for the CIS championships.The Martlets also posted silver medal finishes in the 4x50 free relay and the 4x100 medley relay, while the Redmen claimed bronze in the 4x100 medley relay.
