The irreducible complex representations of the simply connected simple group $G=Sp_{r,{\mathbb C}}$ of type $C_r$, for $r>1$, of dimension $n<{\rm dim}\ G$ are listed in the paper of Andreev, Vinberg, and Elashvili, Table 1. They are the fundamental irreducible representations $R(\pi_1)$ of dimension $2r$, $R(\pi_2)$ of dimension $2r^2-r-1$, and, for $r=3$, $R(\pi_3)$ of dimension 14. For all $r\ge 2$, $r\neq 3$, we have ${\rm dim}\ R(\pi_1)=2r<2r^2-r-1={\rm dim}\ R(\pi_2)$, hence $R(\pi_2)$ is the nontrivial irreducible representation of second smallest dimension. For $r=3$, as Jim Humphreys noted, the dimensions are $6,14,14$, so ${\rm dim}\ R(\pi_2)={\rm dim}\ R(\pi_3)>{\rm dim}\ R(\pi_1)$, and $R(\pi_2)$ is a nontrivial irreducible representation of second smallest dimension.

The irreducible complex representations of the simply connected simple group $G=Sp_{r,{\mathbb C}}$ of type $C_r$, for $r>1$, of dimension $n<{\rm dim}\ G$ are listed in the paper of Andreev, Vinberg, and Elashvili, Table 1 (see also the Russian version). They are the fundamental irreducible representations $R(\pi_1)$ of dimension $2r$, $R(\pi_2)$ of dimension $2r^2-r-1$, and, for $r=3$, $R(\pi_3)$ of dimension 14. For all $r\ge 2$, $r\neq 3$, we have ${\rm dim}\ R(\pi_1)=2r<2r^2-r-1={\rm dim}\ R(\pi_2)$, hence $R(\pi_2)$ is the nontrivial irreducible representation of second smallest dimension. For $r=3$, as Jim Humphreys noted, the dimensions are $6,14,14$, so ${\rm dim}\ R(\pi_2)={\rm dim}\ R(\pi_3)>{\rm dim}\ R(\pi_1)$, and $R(\pi_2)$ is a nontrivial irreducible representation of second smallest dimension.