Quebec swimmers took full advantage of their home water advantage at the Canada Games Friday, as Caitlin Hodge and Jade Dusablon dominated the women's 5,000 metre race while Liam Desjarlais and Nicolas Masse-Savard accomplished the same feat on the men’s side.

Hodge of Gatineau, finished with a time of 1:02:52.37 to edge Dusablon of Quebec City by just over two seconds. Breanne Siwicki of Manitoba took third with a time of 1:02:57.71.

Desjarlais from the town of Prevost, beat Masse-Savard of Gatineau, by a hair, with a time of 59:11,35. Jon McKay of British Columbia, won the bronze medal with a time of 59:13,40.

The four swimmers joined forces for much of the race until the final sprint.

“It was a big effort from out team,” said Desjarlais, 17. “We conserved energy by taking turns in the lead.”

“But in the end it was every man for himself,” said Masse-Savard. “I ran out of energy but gave it my all. I knew that I would end in second at worst.”

The girls, who are good friends out of the water, used the same strategy.

“It’s not the best pool swimmers that win open water events,” said Dusablon, “it’s the most experienced that win.”

With her win, Hodge scored her third individual medal of the games, her first gold. She had already won silver in the 400 and 1,500 metre freestyle and is part of the bronze-winning relay winning 4x200 team.

“I was disappointed that I didn’t win a gold medal in the pool,” said Hodge. “I wanted to redeem myself in the open water race.”

Softball and basketball bronzes

In land-based sports, Quebec’s girls softball team was trailing B.C. 2-1 when rain hit midway through the sixth inning Friday evening. Play resumed a couple of hours later but Quebec couldn’t make up the difference and lost, to win bronze.

On Friday evening Quebec’s basketball squad won a bronze medal by beating New Brunswick 65-57.

At one point Quebec led by 24 points but allowed that lead to dwindle to a mere four points.

“We shouldn’t be overconfident, said Jerome Desrosiers, whose brother Philippe was drafted by the Dallas Stars in June. “We sort of ran out of energy and but our defence held up.”

Coach Thierry Paul said that he appreciated the way the team bounced back against their prior defeat to Manitoba.

“I told the guys that they had one hour to cry all the tears out of their bodies. After that, they rolled up their sleeves to end the tournament on a positive note.”

Daniel Levitt of Westmount, scored 17 points for Quebec, while Val Nelson scored 16 for New Brunswick.

-With a file from The Canadian Press