Tigers off to big lead at 2016 Subway AUS Swimming Championships

The first day of competition at the 2016 Subway AUS Swimming Championship has wrapped up and the Dalhousie Tigers have taken a commanding lead, winning nine of 10 individual events, plus both 400m freestyle relays. The Tigers stand atop the standings in both the men's and women's competitions.

Dalhousie's Katherine Webster led the Tigers to a podium sweep in the first event of the evening, winning the 200m freestyle event with AUS female rookie of the year Lise Cinq-Mars and Lucy MacLeod following close behind. Webster followed up the win with another gold medal in the 100m breaststroke a short time later. Acadia's Hannah Doiron and MtA's Zoee Leblanc were second and third, respectively.

Fellow Tiger and AUS female swimmer of the year Phoebe Lenderyou set a new AUS record in the 100m butterfly, beating her time at last year's AUS championship by seven tenths of a second. Acadia's Alison MacEachern and Dal's Ainsley Fraser won silver and bronze. Rachel Shin led the Tigers in another podium sweep after taking first in the 400m IM. Teammates Annie Douglas and Claire Yurkovich were not far behind posting CIS qualifying times in second and third. Dalhousie (Lenderyou, Macleod, Cinq-Mars & Fraser) won the 400m freestyle relay. UNB and MtA were second and third.

UNB's Charli LeBlanc was the sole non-Dal event winner, taking first in the 50m backstroke with teammate Amanda Green placing second and the Tigers Shin was third.  

On the men's side, AUS male swimmer of the year Gavin Dyke won two events. He led the Tigers in a podium sweep of the 200m freestyle, setting a new AUS record with Tyler Herron and Kyle Watson close behind. Dyke grabbed his second win of the night in the 100m butterfly, posting a CIS qualifying time of 55.72. Dal's Mathieu Bernier placed second behind Dyke with MtA's Eric Lane taking third.

Dalhousie Tiger and AUS male rookie of the year Morrgan Payne won his first AUS championship event, grabbing gold in the 50m backstroke, ahead of Memorial's David Haines and Ryan George. Dal's Tony Liew claimed gold in the 100m breaststroke with fellow Tiger Keenan Teghtsoonian placing second, followed by Acadia's Adam Deutsch in third. In the men's 400m IM, it was the Tigers Teghtsoonian getting his first taste of gold of the championships leading the Tigers in a podium sweep. Herron and AUS community service award winner Jeremy Ryant finished second and third, respectively.

The Tigers (Dyke, Liew, Watson and Herron) grabbed gold in the men's 400m freestyle relay. Memorial was second, followed by Acadia in third.

At the end of the first day of competition, the team standings are as follows:

Women's
Dalhousie - 148
University of New Brunswick - 60
Acadia - 48
Mount Allison - 40
University of Prince Edward Island - 17

Men's
Dalhousie - 160
Memorial - 46
Acadia - 40
Mount Allison - 34
University of New Brunswick - 27
University of Prince Edward Island - 17

The action will get back underway tomorrow with heats starting at 10:00am, while the finals start at 6:00pm. You can catch all the action live online at www.AUStv.ca