McGill swimmer Bielby earns Quebec university athlete of the week honours

MONTREAL - McGill University swimmer Steven Bielby of Pointe Claire, Que., is the Quebec University male athlete of the week for the period ending Feb. 21, 2010.

Bielby, a 20-year-old electrical engineering sophomore, won one gold, a silver and a pair of bronze medals at the CIS swim championships in Toronto last weekend. He earned all-Canadian honours for the second straight year and qualified for an eight-man squad of CIS swimmers that will be going to the Mare Nostrum Series, a high-profile European tour of World Cup meets, in June. Bielby, a 5-foot-10, 150-pound distance specialist, finished atop the podium in the 1500-metre freestyle (15:18.09), destroying his own school record set last year (15:22.71). He was second in the 400 individual medley (4:14.72) and scored third-place finishes in both the 200 IM (2:01.11) and 400-freestyle (3:51:00). Bielby attended John Abbott College before his admission to McGill in 2008.

McGill athletes have now been selected 10 times for the QSSF weekly award, with six of the honourees captured by men. The 2009-10 honourees from McGill include:

Sept. 29  Alexandra Morin-Boucher (soccer)

Oct. 6      Mélissa Coré (golf)

Oct. 13    Simon Marcotte-Légaré (hockey)

Dec. 1     Francis Verreault-Paul (hockey)

Dec. 8     Francis Verreault-Paul (hockey)

Dec. 8     Vanessa Davidson (hockey)

Jan. 12   Cathy Chartrand (hockey)

Jan. 19   Matt Thornhill (basketball)

Jan. 26   Francis Verreault-Paul (hockey)

Feb. 23  Steven Bielby (hockey)