Swimmers win first meet of the season

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Dalhousie Tigers captured the title as the Jack Scholz Memorial Swim Meet champions with men's and women's wins and a combined effort of 1446 points. The meet opened the AUS regular season in swimming with three sessions over two day period. 

Heading into the second day and last of three sessions, the Acadia Axemen held a 33.5 point lead over the Tigers, however that would change in the closing events of the final session. 

The men's Tigers edged the Axemen with a weekend 580 points compared to the Axemen's 562.5. On the women's side, the Tigers posted a comfortable 770 points versus the second place Axewomen's weekend total of 336.  

Top swimmers of the meet with event wins included Acadia's Brett Liem with wins in the 50m & 100m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly, and the 100m Breaststroke. Dalhousie's Olivia Feschuk posted four wins as well in the 100m & 200m Breaststroke, 200m Backstroke, and the 200m Individual Medley. 

"Overall, I was proud of the way our team performed. Our women showed their quality and our men showed some grit in battling a very tough Acadia Men's Team", commented Dalhousie Tigers head coach Lance Cansdale. 

"We were a little short-handed, that being said, we need to get back in the pool and continue working hard on our fitness and technique," said Cansdale. 
 
The Women's Tiger squad posted great wins throughout the weekend and Cansdale was happy with the effort from several of his new swimmers. 
 
"We didn't lose much from last season and added some quality first year students. We have a lot of work to do, but hopefully some of the youngsters can fulfill the promise of their potential." 

Several other notable swimmers who won three events included Acadia's Guy Harrison-Murray, Tigers' Alec Karlsen and Isabel Sarty. Leah Smal of the UNB Reds had wins in the 50m & 100m Backstroke, while teammate Noah Horwood posted a win in the 50m Breaststroke. 

The Tigers were winners in 22 of 35 events including the Mixed Relays which ended each session, while the second place Acadia Axemen and Axewomen delivered nine wins. 

Acadia head coach Gary MacDonald was very pleased by this team's second place finish in the women's, men's and combined results. 

"After a very competitive weekend, the team showed the results of their hard training by being very competitive on all fronts. The men's team really out-did themselves as they challenged for the team trophy for the first time ever. After two full sessions, the Axemen were leading the competition by 33 points, but true to the nature of a veteran team, Dalhousie bounced back with a great final session and they won the meet by the narrowest of margins," noted MacDonald after an emotional third session. 

The second meet of the AUS season is scheduled for November 3rd at Mount Allison.