Axemen & Axewomen finish third at Kemp Fry

HALIFAX, N.S. – The Acadia swim team collected 14 individual medals and five relay medals at the annual Kemp Fry Invitational Meet and finished third in the women's and men's standings.

Leading the Axemen were third year swimmer Brett Liem who dominated the sprint events by setting three USPORT standards, three varsity records and one AUS record. Benjamin Henger qualified for U SPORTS championship in the 100 butterfly.

Team captain Guy Harrison – Murray posted a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle.

The men's relay team continued their challenge against the Tigers and again pulled out an upset by beating them in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay on Saturday evening.

Sophomore Kelsea Vessey continued to show her strengths in the butterfly and freestyle events by requalifying in the 100m and 200m butterfly events with 2 silver medals.

A surprise of the meet was first year swimmer Cali Bruce who came away with several amazing performances in all four of her events including two seconds and a third placing. Her top performance in the 50m butterfly had her only five one-hundredths of a second from qualifying for the U SPORTS Championships.

Jessica Pelletier picked up two second placings in the 50m and 100m backstroke and qualified for two U SPORTS standards.

"Overall both teams showed great strength and the team vibe was as good as it ever has been. This is only the first step in what hopes to be a very exciting season. We have four qualifiers for U SPORTS Championships and a couple of swimmers who came close. The second half should be very challenging as we continue to improve and push for our first ever AUS championships. Team spirit was incredible with all swimmers contributing to our success," noted head coach Gary MacDonald.

Next stop for the Acadia swim team is training camp in Montreal during the Holiday Break and the AUS championships in early February.

Jessica Pelletier
Silver – 50m and 100m Backstroke * U SPORTS Qualified

Arielle Mersiadis-Carrier
Bronze - 50m Freestyle 

Brett Liem
Gold – 50m Freestyle *AUS Record / U SPORTS Qualified / Acadia Record
Gold - 100m Freestyle * U SPORTS Qualified / Acadia Record
Bronze – 100m Breaststroke

Kelsea Vessey
Silver – 100m Butterfly
Silver – 200m Butterfly
Bronze – 50m Butterfly

Ben Henger
Silver – 100m Butterfly * U SPORTS Qualified, Acadia Record

Cali Bruce
Silver – 50m Butterfly
Silver – 50m Breaststroke
Bronze – 200m Individual Medley

Chris Johnson
Bronze – 200m Breaststroke

Guy Harrison-Murray
Bronze – 400m Freestyle

Relays:
Silver – Men's 4 X 100m Freestyle
Silver – Men's 4 X 200m Freestyle * Acadia Record
Bronze – Women's 4 X 200m Freestyle
Bronze – Men's 4 x 100m Medley|
Bronze – Women's 4 X 100m Medley