FREDERICTON, N.B. – The Acadia swim team finished second in combined overall team standings at the opening meet of the 2019-20 AUS swim season in Fredericton, N.B. this past weekend.
The Axemen created a bit of history this past weekend with a first-ever win against the Dalhousie Tigers in recent history, while the Axewomen finished a strong second to the women Tigers.
"After an amazing recruiting season, we knew we would be in contention this season. Without really knowing what Dal had with their recruitment, the overall feeling was that we were ready to challenge for our first win," said head coach Gary MacDonald.
The Axemen lead the Tigers after the first session of Saturday and continued to lead throughout Sunday's session. The men's team finshed with 724.5 points compared to second place Dalhousie's 441.5.
"It's just a stepping stone. We're going to see how we do at our meet in two weeks," said Axemen head coach Gary MacDonald. "They're pretty pumped. The fact the men won a meet is pretty special, and we're going to ride on that for the rest of the season."
UNB and Mount Allison finished third and fourth.
On the women's side, the Axewomen trailed Dalhousie on Saturday and finished the weekend with 399 points compared to first place Dalhousie with 737. The Axewomen finished 152 points ahead of third place UNB.
"Acadia is building their program and they're getting stronger and stronger, and they had a really good recruiting year," said Tigers head coach Lance Cansdale. "They came out strong, but I feel confident in our team. We have some work to do."
"It was a tough battle for sure but it finally felt that we had arrived. Next stop, Acadia's Jack Scholz Meet at home where we hope to win our first ever home meet," noted MacDonald.
Several new faces to the Acadia swim team grabbed their fair share of medals at the UNB meet. Team captain Guy Harrison Murray was thrilled with team's performance this past weekend.
"The difference this year is the attitude of every male on this team. The culture we've been developing here over the last 2 years has really been growing but with the addition of our big recruiting year this year and the attitude of believing we can win, that's been the difference. I know every time any of us step up on the block we have the support of 20 other men and with that backing and not wanting to let the team down, we're stepping up and putting down fast times. Dalhousie will come back strong as they always do so we will take this today but tomorrow it's back to work, we can still improve," noted Harrison-Murray.
The Axemen and Axewomen will have several weeks to prepare for the Jack Scholz Meet scheduled for November 2nd and 3rd at Acadia.
Top Three Finishes:
Reilly Baker 3rd 50m Freestyle, 3rd 200m Freestyle, 3rd 100m Freestyle
Cali Bruce 2nd 200m Backstroke, 2nd 50m Breaststroke, 3rd 100m Backstroke, 2nd 200m Individual Medley
Dean Sangster 1st 200m Backstroke, 1st 50m Backstroke
Kelsea Vessey 1st 100m Butterfly, 2nd 400m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly
Ben Henger 2nd 100m Butterfly
Gordon Shortt 1st 50m Breaststroke, 2nd 100m Freestyle, 1st 100m Individual Medley, 1st 200m Individual Medley
Andre Walcott 3rd 50m Breaststroke, 1st 200m Breaststroke
Brett Liem 2nd 200m Freestyle, 1st 100m Breaststroke, 2nd 100m Individual Medley, 1st 50m Butterfly
Madison Murray 2nd 400m Individual Medley, 3rd 100m Breaststroke, 3rd 200m Breaststroke
Joshua Nowlan 2nd 400m Individual Medley, 2nd 800m Freestyle
Mary Beth Brown 3rd 100m Freestyle
Elyott Chang 3rd 100m Breaststroke
Lucas Perkins 3rd 200m Butterfly
Jessica Pelletier 3rd 50m Backstroke
Guy Harrison-Murray 2nd 400m Freestyle
Logan Way 2nd 100m Backstroke
Sarah MacDougall 2nd 200m Breaststroke
Kenny Shane 50m Butterfly
1st Mixed 50m Freestyle Relay – Brett Liem, Reilly Baker, Mary Beth Brown, Kelsea Vessey