Swimming Axemen and Axewomen finish 2nd in final team standings

Session 1 - Saturday, Oct. 15 RECAP:

The 2022-2023 season is officially underway! Acadia, Dalhousie, UNB, and Mount Allison came together this weekend in Fredericton, New Brunswick for the first time since February 2022.

After session 1, the Dalhousie Tigers led both the men's and the women's team scores. On the men's side, Dalhousie had 355 points, followed closely by Acadia with 326 points. On the women's side, Dalhousie is finshed the opening session with 352 points, followed by Acadia with 256.5 points.

The competition started off strong with four Axewomen competing in the 50m free, including debuts from rookies Abby Brousseau, placing 7th and Josie Girvan, placing 9th. On the men's side, five Axemen competed, all finishing in the top 7. Shane Kenny took the win with a time of 24.88, and Will Dauphinee's Axeman debut placing 7th. 

Rookie Sophie Rooney made a splash in the 200m backstroke placing 1st by 11 seconds with a USPORTS qualifying time of 2:15.62. Rooney lead the team with the first USPORTS qualification of the season. Also in the 200m back, rookies Natalie Stokes and Jenna MacLeod made their debut as Axewomen. Stokes finished 5th in the 200m back, completing her 101st 200m back of her swimming career. The women's team co-captain Gina Vaillancourt dominated heat two and finished 8th overall. In the men's 200 back, 4th year Dean Sangster finished 1st with a time of 2:06.15. Additionally, co-captain Aaron Day placed 6th followed by Owen Landry in 7th and Josh Elsworth in 8th. 

Acadia had five women representing in the 100m butterfly. Kassidy Hamilton came home strong, touching the wall 1st with a time of 1:06.86. Rookies Emma Hamlyn, Scotia Broome, and Sara Bennett swam their first race as Axewomen placing 5th, 8th, and 12th respectively. Second-year Aideen Nelson with a strong swim placing 4th. Representing the Axemen, Kenny and Marcus Vaillancourt racked up the points with 1st and 3rd place finishes, respectively. Both men turned on the jets for the last 25m.

In the 50m breaststroke, rookie Ella Collins led the pack with an outstanding 1st place finish in her first race as part of the Acadia family. Following closely after, second-year Kali Lancaster took 4th, followed by Ally Bennett in 8th, and rookie Jillian Thrush in 11th in her first swim as an Axewoman. Representing the men, co-captain Gordon Shortt finished 2nd, followed closely by Adam Deutsch in his comeback race as an Axeman. 

Five Axewomen took on the 200m freestyle. Grace Earle led the pack with a 3rd place finish, followed by Abby Brousseau in 6th, Annie Ingo in 12th, Gina Vaillancourt in 13th, and Victoria Flowerday in 17th. On the men's side, rookie Agaron Ramos began his Axeman career finishing 3rd with a time of 2:06.42. Following closely, Elsworth placed 6th and rookie Reid Nuttall finished 10th in his debut swim. 

Stokes represented Acadia in the 400m individual medley with an amazing 5th place finish, out-touching 6th place by .31. In the men's 400 IM, fellow rookie Myles McTavish left a mark in the pool with an incredible 4th place finish and coming home strong in the freestyle leg of the race. Fifth-year Landry placed 6th with a great backstroke leg of the race. 

Seven Axewomen dominated the 100m freestyle led by Rooney with a second-place finish with a time of 59.13. Hamlyn, Hamilton, Bennett, Nelson, MacLeod, and McCool also had strong swims and scored points for the women's team. This promising group of women show great potential for this year's sprint relays. Also showing great promise is the seven Axemen who competed in today's 100 free. Sangster led the pack with a 2nd place finish, followed by Stokesbury-Price in 3rd, Pitre in 4th, Ingo in 5th, Vaillancourt in 6th, Day in 8th, and Dauphinee in 12th. 

Collins placed 2nd in the women's 100m breaststroke, showing great strength in the breaststroke sprints. Male swimmers Shortt and Deutsch collectively scored 29 points for the men's team with 2 podium finishes. 

On the distance side of things, Girvan swam a well-paced 800m freestyle finishing 4th. McTavish showed his distance strength with a phenomenal 2nd place finish in the longest event of the session. 

Session 2 - Sunday, Oct. 16 RECAP:

The second session of AUS swimming's season-opener ended with Dalhousie winning the combined, men's, and women's scores. Acadia followed closely behind in all three categories. 

Sunday morning's session started off with the 200m butterfly. On the men's side, Kenny and Vaillancourt placed 2nd and 4th respectively. 

Rooney secured a first-place finish in the 50m backstroke, with teammate Kassidy Hamilton close behind in 3rd place. On the men's side, Day and Pitre touched in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. 

In the 400m freestyle, Stokesbury-Price and Ingo continued their dominance in the freestone events, securing 2 podium finishes. 

Breaststrokers Collins, Lancaster, and Shortt shone in the 100m individual medley. Shortt won the event with a time of 59.67. 

Acadia swimmers dominated the 100m backstroke, with two first place finishes by Rooney and Day, and two second place finishes by Earle and Kenny.

Deustch captured first place in the 200m breaststroke, continuing his legacy of excellence in the breaststroke events. 

Hamilton and Bennett captured silver and bronze respectively in the women's 50m butterfly, with Shortt and Sangster for gold and bronze for the men. 

In the 8x50m mixed freestyle relay, Ramos, Elsworth, Deustch, Pitre, Vaillancourt, Lancaster, Hamilton, and Broome captured bronze, with the Tigers placing 1st and UNB placing 2nd. 

Head coach Kris Bell sharee his thoughts on the weekend. "The spirit of the entire team on deck this weekend was exhilarating. The entire Axewomen team took advantage of the first competition of the season to clearly identify themselves as strong competitors this weekend."

The Axemen and Axewomen will be back in the pool October 29th and 30th for the annual Jack Sholtz meet at Acadia. 

Provided by Gina Vaillancourt and Victoria Flowerday