Tigers on top after first day of AUS championship

The first day of competition at the 2015 Subway AUS Swimming Championship has wrapped up and the Dalhousie Tigers have taken a commanding lead, winning seven individual events while Acadia claimed two and the Memorial Sea-Hawks had one of their own.

The Dalhousie Tigers stand atop the standings in both the men's and women's competitions. Behind them in both men's and women's is Acadia in second, while the UNB women and Mount Allison men occupy the third position.

Dalhousie's Phoebe Lenderyou broke two AUS records on the day, in the 100m butterfly (in the 400m relay) and the 50m backsroke. Not be undone, fellow Tiger Rachel Shin broke a 21-year old record in the 400m IM, which was previously held by Iona Allen (UNB).

Acadia's Rebecca MacPherson was the first swimmer of the meet to finish atop the podium after she won the 200m freestyle by just over a second over Dalhousie's Meagan Bernier. In the men's 200m freestyle, Dalhousie finished with two swimmers on the podium after Gavin Dyke grabbed the first-place finish and Kyle Watson finished third. Geraint Berger of Mount Allison finished second.

It was another Tiger atop the podium in the women's 50m backstroke as Phoebe Lenderyou claimed the top spot, ahead of Charli LeBlanc of UNB. Dalhousie's Tony Liew finished just ahead of teammate Sean Berrigam to take the men's 50m backstroke.

The Tigers swept the podium in the women's 500m breaststroke, as Paige Crowell, Keishia Mills and Cara McCallum finished first, second and third, respectively. On the men's side, Luc Boudreau of Acadia narrowly edged Dalhousie's Nik Taylor for the top spot. 

Phoebe Lenderyou won her second event of the day when she won by a staggering four seconds in the 100m butterfly. Owen Daley of the Memorial Sea-Hawks would have a similarly dominating performance, taking the men's 100m butterfly by almost three full seconds. 

Another trio of Tigers filled the podium in the women's 400m IM as Rachel Shin, Katie Webster and Katie Lamont finished first, second and third, respectively. The Tigers men's team nearly mirrored the women's feat, but they finished just short. Tigers James Profit and Keenan Teghtsoonian finished first and second, respectively, while Acadia's Adam Deutsch rounded out the podium.

In both 400m freestyle relay events, it was the Tigers who again showed their incredible depth as both their men's and women's teams won the top spots.

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

Women's

Dalhousie-153

Acadia-70

University of New Brunswick-45

Mount Allison-32

University of Prince Edward Island-10

Memorial-3

Men's

Dalhousie-127

Acadia-89

Memorial-35

Mount Allison-26

University of New Brunswick-26

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