Athletes head to World University Games
Five Concordia student athletes will be part of the Canadian delegation aiming for glory at the XXVI Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China, August 12 to 23.
Concordia will be represented by one member on the basketball team, and two athletes each on both the judo and the swim teams. The summer universiade is a biennial international multi-sport event open to student athletes between the ages of 17 and 28.
Often referred to as the World University Games, the universiade is second only to the Summer Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries.
Concordia Stingers’ all-Canadian point guard Kyle Desmarais has been named to the 12-member Team Canada men’s basketball team. In the 2010-11 season, the economics undergraduate was named Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) conference co-MVP, placing second in scoring in the conference.
Joining the Canada’s four-member judo team will be exercise science undergraduate Stéfanie Tremblay and education undergraduate Justin Imagawa.
Tremblay is the Canadian senior champion in her weight class, and Imagawa earned bronze at the USA Judo US Open in 2010.
Master’s student in economics Tim Ruse and undergraduate marketing student Jonathan Gagné will be part of Canada’s 42-member swim team.
Student athletes do not have to be part of a university team to compete at the universiade — Concordia has neither a swim team nor a judo team.
For Gagné and Ruse, choosing Concordia was primarily about the quality of the academic programs and their connections to the community and not about athletics; both are Montreal natives who compete for the Pointe-Claire Swim Club on Montreal’s West Island.
“Ever since the John Molson School of Business got the new building, it’s been growing and growing,” says Gagné. “Being in downtown Montreal gives a lot of opportunity for jobs later on because the school is so recognized in Montreal and around the world.”
After swimming competitively for Princeton University during his undergraduate degree in economics, Ruse says the applied nature of the economics program appealed to him.
Selections for many of the teams competing in China will be finalized in the coming months. More Concordia athletes may find themselves representing Canada in China.
Related links:
• 2011 Summer Universiade
• Team Canada
• "Kyle Desmarais named to Universiade basketball team" - Concordia Recreation and Athletics, June 1 2011
• "Four past medalists highlight Canadian swim selection for 2011 Summer Universiade" - Swimming Canada, May 13 2011
• John Molson School of Business