CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW: Gee-Gees set for RSEQ Swim Championship at home

The Gee-Gees swimmers are gearing up for the RSEQ Championship, taking place Thursday, Mar. 3 through Saturday, Mar. 5 at the Montpetit Hall Aquatic Centre.

Delegations from Laval, McGill, Montréal, Ottawa, Sherbrooke and UQTR will all be taking part in the three-day, four session event. Tickets can be purchased at tickets.geegees.ca, and the event will be streamed on the Gee-Gees YouTube channel. 

Ottawa competed in three RSEQ Cup events in the fall of 2021 and a selection of dual meets to prepare for the provincial championship.

Adelle Yamashita-Ball was a standout for the women's team this season. The third-year Gee-Gee owns the fastest time among RSEQ competitors in both the 400m and 800m freestyle events. Yamashita-Ball will have her sights set on national hardware; her time of 4:14.14 in the 400m free is the third quickest in U SPORTS this season.

Veteran Lauren Shearer and first year Abigail McKinley are both podium threats, while Ottawa is favoured to take gold in the 800m free relay event.

Not to be outdone, the Gee-Gees men's team enjoyed strong RSEQ season.

Nathan Schiffmann has clocked times in the top five of all Quebec swimmers in five different events thus far this season. The 800m freestyle is the Frenchman's strongest event, has his time of 8:13.85 is the second fastest in the conference and sixth fastest in U SPORTS.

Alexandre Perreault is a medal favourite in the 50m butterfly, and has a shot at the podium in the 100m fly and 50m backstroke. Will Barrett, Hugo Lemesle and Noah Wagner are each expected to have good RSEQ Championships.

The most exciting events on the men's side might be the 200m and 400m medley relays. Ottawa and Laval have been duelling all season long in these events.

The championship gets underway at 6:00 p.m. on Mar. 3 with the relay prelims. The prelims start at 10:00 a.m. on Mar. 4, with the finals taking place at 5:00 p.m. The Mar. 5 prelims start at 8:00 a.m., with the finals going at 3:00 p.m. The complete schedule can be found HERE.

Ottawa finished second overall at the 2020 RSEQ Championship. The men finished second, and the women were third. McGill swept the men's, women's and overall titles at the 2020 Championship.

This will be the first RSEQ Championship held at Montpetit Hall, although Ottawa played host to the 2014-15 OUA Swimming Championship.     

Swimmers who qualify for the U SPORTS National Championship won't have to travel far, as Laval is hosting the championship from Mar. 24-26.