Shortt and Collins named Acadia athletes of the week

Ella Collins (women’s swimming) and Gordon Shortt (men’s swimming) have been named Acadia athletes of the week for the period ending November 26.

Collins, a second-year kinesiology student, had a record-setting week in the pool at the Kemp-Fry Invitational hosted by Dalhousie. She set an AUS record on Friday night in the 50m breaststroke prelims, finishing in 31.83. The previous record was set by Dalhousie’s Audrey Prayal-Brown with a finish of 31.96 in 2013 at the AUS championship. Collins topped that on Sunday in the final, finishing in 31.76 to best her own record. This also topped Elizabeth Morrison’s 32.57 Acadia record set in 2022-23.

Besides winning the 50m breaststroke on Sunday, she also won the 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:34.49 – which broke her Acadia record of 2:35.70 set in 2022-23. She also helped win the 400m medley relay with Sophie Rooney, Emma Hamlyn and Sara Bennett, which set an Acadia record with a time of 4:14.89. It was previously held at 4:16.32 and set in 2022-23.  

On Saturday Collins won the 100m breaststroke event in 1:09.33, topping her Acadia record of 1:11.78, which she set at UNB earlier this season.

Shortt, a fourth-year business administration student, also had a record-setting weekend in the pool in Halifax. Both AUS records, and subsequently Acadia records he set, happened on Sunday. After finishing fourth in the 50m fly to start the day, in his next event he topped his 2022 AUS record of 28.46 in the 50m breaststroke by winning with a time of 28.37.

In his final event of the weekend, he won the 200m IM with a time of 2:00.69 to set a new AUS record. The previous benchmark was held by Dalhousie’s David Sharpe with a time of 2:01.33, which was set at the Dalhousie Invitational on November 17, 2012.

On Saturday he won the 100m breaststroke event, finishing just off the AUS record with a time of 1:01.96. This did however break the Acadia record of 1:02.43 set by Luc Boudreau in 2013-14. He was also part of the 400m free relay winners from Acadia, finishing in 3:24.05. He joined Bo Stokesbury-Price, Nate Thompson and David Harvie.

The Acadia athletes of the week are presented by McDonald's.