Wednesday, February 22 2012
Swimming
At CIS Championships at Université de Montréal on Thursday, February 23 – Saturday, February 25, 2012; preliminaries at 10:00 a.m., finals at 6:00 p.m. daily (SSN Canada)
It’s the grand finale of the Gee-Gees varsity swimming season, as a team of 18 Gee-Gees swimmers will travel to Montréal to challenge the best university swimmers in the country for the CIS Swimming Championships.
Though a significantly smaller roster with 18 swimmers compared to last year’s 27 athletes, the Gee-Gees will be looking for experience to play in their favour as opposed to last year’s largely rookie roster. The Gee-Gees will also be looking to capitalize on the meet being close to home, no high altitude factor like last year’s meet in Calgary, and hopefully no flu bug invading the team. And the Gee-Gees have never struggled to step up when the competition is fierce, and this weekend should prove to be no exception.
The women’s team is ranked eighth national rankings, tied with McMaster whom they finished just behind at the 2012 OUA Championships in fourth. The men’s team remains unranked in the top ten after also finishing fourth at the OUA Championships.
The Gee-Gees women’s team is the strongest is has been in recent years, with a highly skilled roster of ten CIS qualifiers. The team finished with a uOttawa history’s best 12th place team finish at the 2011 CIS Championships. The bar has been set high for uOttawa athlete of the week Eryn Weldon (Moncton, N.B.) after her uOttawa record setting performance and three silver medals at this year’s OUA Championships. Weldon will look to improve upon her career-best 12th place finish at the 2011 CIS Championships, achieved in the 200m individual medley.
The men’s team has a roster of eight swimmers, with the strongest side of the men’s team being in the relays. The team may not be full of individual super-stars, but the strength of the group and dedication of the individuals to the team really shines through in the relays. The men’s team finished 10th at last year’s CIS Championships for the third time in school history; the highest result by a Gee-Gees team.
uOttawa athlete of the week, third-year Adam Best (Ottawa, Ont.) climbed the podium with a silver medal in the 200m backstroke at the 2011 CIS Championships, and with his haul of two silvers and a bronze at the OUA Championships this year, eyes will remain on Best to see if he can have a repeat podium finish at the CIS Championships this weekend.
“They’re ready to go,” said head coach Claude-Yves Bertrand, “They’re anxious to race rested, and race fast. You rest for one shot, and this is it.”
University of Ottawa history was made at the 2011 CIS Championships when former Gee-Gees’ swimmer Matt Hawes captured uOttawa’s first ever gold medal, in the 200m backstroke; followed closely by teammate Best in second.
Stay tuned to www.geegees.ca for full coverage of the Gee-Gees at the 2012 CIS Championships!
Gee-Gees 2012 CIS Roster:
Men: Jose Baylon, Adam Best, Chris Cormier, Matt Harding, Bernard Joosten, Connor Michie, Harley Patterson, Stefan Ruksys
Women: Chantelle Boduel, Kara Demers, Nicole Lachance, Taylor Moore, Valérie Morin, Sherry Patel, Victoria Smith, Julia Tunney, Eryn Weldon, Ashley Wright
