NEWS: Gee-Gees win CUASL National Championship

The Gee-Gees artistic swimming team captured the varsity team gold medal at the Canadian University Artistic Swimming League (CUASL) national championships last weekend. The team worked through the many challenges presented by COVID-19 to have a successful season, culminating in five podium finishes at the virtual event.

The team recorded video submissions for the nationals in early March, with the judging and announcement of winners taking place on Zoom March 13. With the results, the Gee-Gees have earned their place at the Canadian national qualifiers, to be hosted by Canada Artistic Swimming in April.

The team captured first and second place in the varsity team category, and had two members medal in the varsity solo category. Gabrielle Gillian, a first-year international management student, won silver while Madeleine Berry took the bronze. Berry is a fourth-year conflict studies and human rights student who has made the CUASL nationals podium with the Gee-Gees before and competed internationally for Great Britain at the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series. The Gee-Gees novice team also took gold in the novice duet/trio category.

"Our sport usually prioritizes the close proximity of athletes during routines as an integral element of our score," notes team president Isabelle MacLean, who also competed as part of the varsity championship winning team.

"This year we were required to maintain a two-metre distance from each other at all times in the pool. Because of this we also could not execute highlights — where we throw athletes out of the water and they do flips or flexibility displays. This changes the integral makeup and rhythm of the routines themselves."

January's province-wide lockdown limited pool time, but the team was able to return for two weeks to prepare for the nationals. It used those two weeks to rebuild endurance and film the video submissions, building on frequent online workouts and team discussions, which MacLean says helped the team remain focused and in shape despite the lockdown.

"Our dedicated volunteer coaches, who continuously supported the team's development through modified choreography and knowledge of the sport, working closely with the athletic department to stay on top of upcoming restrictions as well as increase our practice times post-lockdown," were also key factors, she said.

"We are exceptionally proud of our athletes this season," says MacLean, who has been with the team for the last six seasons and also served as the meet manager for the national event, the first CUASL meet to be held entirely virtually.