HALIFAX, N.S. – The Acadia swim team completed the three-day Kemp-Fry Swim Meet hosted by Dalhousie University this past weekend with a second place finish in the men's and women's divisions and an overall combined second place finish behind the host Dalhousie Tigers.
"The team was well prepared and anxious to see the results of nine weeks of hard training and for the first time in Acadia's recent history and return of the swim program, we fielded a full men's team," noted head coach Gary MacDonald.
The weekend began with the distance events on Friday night plus the 50m events.
"The Friday evening was very exciting with many personal bests and the tone was set for a very good weekend. Varsity records were falling off the shelf all weekend," said MacDonald following the weekend results.
In the ladies events, rookies Jessica Pelletier and Kelsea Vessey showed great promise by qualifying for U SPORTS in their specialties of the backstroke and butterfly.
Senior swimmer Alison MacEachern qualified for the U SPORTS championship in February in four events including 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly and the 50m freestyle.
The Charlottetown, P.E.I. native posted all personal best times, plus a best in the 100m freestyle as the lead-out in the relay. MacEachern finished second in 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle and third in 100m and 200m butterfly. Her 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle were Acadia records.
Second year swimmer Brett Liem qualified for the U SPORTS national championship in the 50m freestyle.
From Bedford, N.S., Liem posted wins in the 50m free and 50m butterfly along with a second place in the 100m freestyle and third in 50m breaststroke. Liem's 50m freestyle was an Acadia record and an AUS record. He also posted a 100m freestyle Acadia record as well.
Veteran Adam Deutsch, from Kingston, N.S., was the strongest male performer, swimming all lifetime best times and winning both 100m and 200m breaststroke events, plus coming in a strong second in both his IM events. He also led off two of the Axemen's relays which helped the Axemen to second place team finish behind the Tigers.
Senior swimmer Ben Henger posted his best meet results ever, shattering the 100m Axemen butterfly record and narrowly missing the race win by 1 tenth of a second.
Winning Races:
Brett Liem: 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle Adam Deutsch: 100m breaststroke and 200m breaststroke
U SPORT QUALIFIERS
Kelsea Vessey - 100m and 200m butterfly Ali MacEachern - 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 100. butterfly and 200m butterfly Jessica Pelletier – 50m and 100m backstroke
Hannah Doiron (previously qualified) Brett Liem - 50m freestyle
"A job well done by our team. After getting through exams and a quick visit to home the Acadia swimmers, we will be heading south to attend a 9-day training camp in southern Florida near Fort Lauderdale," noted MacDonald.