News

Bielby wins silver at CIS swim championships

Published: 18 February 2010

 

TORONTO - Steven Bielby, a McGill engineering sophomore from Pointe Claire, Que., won a silver medal on the opening day of the 2010 CIS swim championships, at U of T's Varsity Pool, Thursday.

 

The meet continues on Friday and Saturday. Live results and video webcast of finals are available online at: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/swim

 

In what was the closest race of the night, last year's silver medalist Jordan Hartney of the UBC Thunderbirds out-touched Bielby, the 20-year-old defending champion in the men's 400 IM. Hartney, a senior from Surrey, B.C., finished the gruelling event in 4:14:08, seventh-tenths of a second faster than Bielby (4:14.72), who came from behind to overtake Dinos' swimmer David Dimitrov, on the last leg of the race.

 

Bielby has now won four medals in two appearances at the CIS Nationals.

 

"Tonight was a good opening night for us," said Peter Carpenter, in his first season as head coach at McGill. "Steven finished behind the top 400 IM swimmer in the country. He was closing in fast over the last 100 metres but ran out of room. We also had two women qualify for the consolation final in the breaststroke and the evening was capped off by some excellent results for us in the relays."

 

McGill is tied for 11th overall in the men's standings and 13th on the women's side.

 

In the women's 100m breaststroke, McGill's Leanne Roach of Gander, Nfld., and Kristyna Cleminson of Belleville, Ont., placed 14th and 16th, respectively.

 

The Martlets were 12th overall in the 4x100 freestyle relay with a time of 4:00.99, seven seconds faster and three spots higher than their results last year. The quartet included Calgary native Elana Evans in the leadoff spot, Valérie Grand'Maison from Town of Mt. Royal, Que., Myriam Donato of Pointe Claire and Roach in the anchor leg.

 

In the men's 4x100 free relay, McGill was 11th in 3:28.54, a two-second improvement over the 2009 CIS championships. Brazilian Diego Passoa swam leadoff, followed by Jason Boivin of Point Claire, Bielby and anchor Hector Hernandez of West Bloomfield, Mich.

 

The Calgary Dinos got off to a great start and have emerged as the outright leaders in both the women's and men's team standings.

 

In the women's competition, the Dinos top the standings despite being well off their first-day total from last year (252) with 217 points. The 2010 Canada West champion UBC Thunderbirds sit in second place with 193 points, while the reigning Quebec champion University of Montreal Carabins, led by Olympians Audrey Lacroix and Geneviève Saumur, are within striking distance with 164 points after Thursday's finals.

 

The Dino men, who finished second to the T-Birds at last year's national meet, currently lead with a total of 208.5 points, while the OUA champion Toronto Varsity Blues find themselves in second with 175.

 

Varsity Blues superstar Colin Russell of Burlington, Ont., was the only male to repeat as champion on Day 1.  The 2008 Olympian and CIS record-holder won the men's 200-metre freestyle in a time of 1:45.04.

 

Calgary's Jason Block was the only man to swim under the one-minute mark in the men's 100 breaststroke. The sophomore, who finished fourth in 2009, blew away the competition in a time 59.42 seconds. Western's Bryn Jones finished second (1:01.1).

 

Saumur, who won six gold medals at the QSSF championships, captured her first two CIS gold medals.  The Quebec conference rookie of the year was golden in her first race, finishing atop the podium in the women's 200 freestyle, in a time of 1:57.34. Calgary's Kevyn Peterson was second (1:58.15), just ahead of teammate Katy Murdoch (1:58.73).

 

Saumur notched her second win of the night in the 50 backstroke. The 2008 Olympian bested the veteran Murdoch at the wall. Bethany Flemington from the University of Guelph was third, one-tenth of a second ahead of Toronto's Andrea Jurenovskis.

 

Lacroix, the QSSF female swimmer of the year, easily won the 100 butterfly. The Pont-Rouge Que. native bettered Thunderbirds Erin Miller by nearly a second.  The current Canadian record-holder in the 100 and 200 butterfly races finished her first final in a time of 59.79.

 

UBC's Hanna Pierse became a three-time champion in the women's 400 IM (4:40.45) and finished five seconds ahead of her nearest competitor. Calgary's Jessica Johnson (4:45.45) fought off a late surge from Carabins swimmer Sarah-Lee Hevey (4:45.81) to take the silver.

 

Also earning individual victories on Thursday were Varsity Blues Zack Chetrat, last year's bronze medalist in the 100 butterfly, who claimed gold at home in a time of 53.20. Dalhousie's David Sharpe (25.17) was first in the 50 backstroke, while Calgary's Erica Morningstar's time of 1:06.71 was more than enough in order to win the 100 breaststroke.

 

The three-day CIS meet resumes Friday morning with preliminaries starting at 10 a.m. Eastern and finals at 6 p.m.

 

DAY 1 TEAM STANDINGS

 

Women

1. Calgary, 217 points

2. UBC, 193

3. Montréal, 164

4. Western Ontario, 94

5. Toronto, 92

6. Alberta, 60

6. Laval, 60

8. Dalhousie, 43

9. Guelph, 32

10. Victoria, 27

11. Ottawa, 18

12. McMaster, 16

13. Wilfrid Laurier, 14

13. McGill, 14

15. UNB, 10

16. Lethbridge, 9

17. Laurentian, 8

18. Brock, 6

19. Regina, 5

20. Sherbrooke, 1

 

Men

1. Calgary, 208.5

2. Toronto, 175

3. UBC, 126

4. Dalhousie, 107

5. Laval, 92.5

6. Western Ontario, 74

7. Alberta, 62

8. Guelph, 51

9. Montréal, 46

10. Ottawa, 37

11. Victoria, 29

11. McGill, 29

13. McMaster, 21

14. Lethbridge, 8

15. Manitoba, 5

16. Waterloo, 2

 

DAY 1 INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS (Thursday)

 

Women's 200m Free

1. Genevieve Saumur, Montreal, 1:57.34

2. Kevyn Peterson, Calgary, 1:58.15

3. Katy Murdoch, Calgary, 1:58.73

 

Men's 200m Free

1. Colin Russell, Toronto, 1:45.04

2. David Woodman, Calgary, 1:47.37

3. Adam Szoo, Laval, 1:47.48

 

W 50m Back

1. Genevieve Saumur, Montreal, 28.10

2. Katy Murdoch, Calgary, 28.13

3. Bethany Flemington, Guelph, 28.77

 

M 50m Back

1. David Sharpe, Dalhousie. 25.17

2. Dan Langlois, Calgary, 25.28

3. Cam Cummings, Toronto, 25.71

 

W 100m Breast

1. Erica Morningstar, Calgary, 1:06.71

2. Martha McCabe, UBC, 1:07.30

3. Kayla Voytechek, Alberta, 1:08.43

 

M 100m Breast

1. Jason Block, Calgary, 59.42

2. Bryn Jones, UWO, 1:01.10

3. Bogdan Knezevic, Calgary, 1:01.11

 

W 100m Fly

1. Audrey Lacroix, Montreal, 59.79

2. Erin Miller, UBC, 1:00.46

3. Chantique Payne, Guelph, 1:00.90

 

M 100m Fly

1. Zack Chetrat, Toronto, 53.50

2. David Sharpe, Dalhousie, 53.82

3. Mike Smerek, Toronto, 53.89

 

W 400m IM

1. Hanna Pierse, UBC, 4:40.45

2. Jessica Johnson, Calgary, 4:45.45

3. Sarah-Lee Hevey, Montreal, 4:45.81

 

M 400m IM

1. Jordan Hartney, UBC, 4:14.08

2. Steven Bielby, McGill, 4:14.72

3. David Dimitrov, Calgary, 4:16.39

W 4 x 100m Free Relay

1. Calgary 3:40.36

(Katy Murdoch, Erica Morningstar, Kevyn Peterson, Seanna Mitchell)

2. Western Ontario 3:44.87

Ashleigh Dunnington, Hayley Nell, Amber Hutchinson, Alex Cooper)

3. Montreal 3:45.82

(Audrey Lacroix, Emilie Belleau, Chrystele Roy L'Ecuyer, Genevieve Saumur)

 

M 4 x 100m Free Relay

1. Calgary 3:17.63

(Ryan Gow, Brad Hankewich, Colin Miazga, David Woodman)

2. Toronto 3:18.21 34

(Martyn Forde, Taylor Bond, Colin Russell, Cam Cummings)

3. UBC 3:18.69 32

(Tommy Gossland, Rory Biskupski, Matt Godbeer, Duncan Furrer)

 

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

Communications Officer

Athletics & Recreation

McGill University

514-398-7012 (tel.)

 

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