The 2022-2023 AUS Championships in St. John's, Newfoundland, was a weekend to remember for Acadia Swimming. The team traveled to St. John's on Thursday to prepare for Friday morning's prelims.
Friday evening's finals session brought in some exciting results. In the first event of the night, the 50m freestyle, women's team co-captain Elisabeth Morrison tied for silver. On the men's side, Dean Sangster and Shane Kenny took silver and bronze, respectively. In the 100m backstroke, AUS rookie of the year Sophie Rooney captured gold in a huge lead against the rest of the field. Axemen Dean Sangster also captured gold, followed closely by men's team co-captain Aaron Day in second. In the 50m breaststroke, both Morrison and men's team co-captain Gordon Shortt took the win. Adam Deutsch claimed bronze on the men's side. Kassidy Hamilton captured gold in the 100m butterfly, while Kenny and Marcus Vaillancourt finished 1st and 3rd, respectively. Rooney placed 2nd in the 200m IM, while Shortt raced in the men's final and secured 1st. The Axemen and Axewomen dominated the 4x100m medley relays, with both teams claiming the top of the podium. Rooney, Morrison, Hamilton, and Grace Earle had a standout win against the Tigers, while Sangster, Shortt, Kenny, and Bo Stokesbury-Price ended the evening with another win for Acadia.
Saturday evening's finals were electric. Axeman Bo Stokesbury-Price brought home the silver in the men's 200m freestyle. On the backstroke side, Axewomen Rooney and Hamilton won 1st and 2nd, respectively. In the men's 50m backstroke, Sangster and Day claimed silver and bronze, respectively. Tearing down an old team record from 2017, Axewoman Ella Collins made a splash in the 100m breaststroke placing 1st with a time of 1:12.48. Teammate Elisabeth Morrison followed close behind in 3rd place. On the men's side, Axeman Shortt came away with a gold medal in the 100m breaststroke. Hamilton placed 2nd in the women's 50m fly, while teammates Kenny and Marcus Vaillancourt walked away with gold and bronze, respectively. Saturday's finals ended with the 4x200m freestyle relay. The Axewomen (Kali Lancaster, Hamilton, Earle, and Rooney) put up a great race against the Tigers, capturing silver. Shortt, Deutsch, Stokesbury-Price, and Sangster took over the men's final and secured the top of the podium for the relay for the second night in a row.
Sunday evening marked the last day of AUS 2023. Stokesbury-Price started off strong with a silver medal in the men's 100m freestyle. In the women's 200m breaststroke, Collins got her name on the record board again with a 2nd place finish and a time of 2:35.70. Teammate Shortt walked away with silver as well on the men's side. Rooney led the pack in the 200m backstroke finishing first by 6 seconds. On the men's side, Sangster walked away with a gold medal in the 200m backstroke. Teammate Day finished 2nd in his last race as an Axeman, the 200m backstroke. Ending AUS off with a bang, the women's 4x100m freestyle relay (Rooney, Sara Bennett, Hamilton, Emma Hamlyn) finished 3rd. The men's 4x100m freestyle relay out-touched Dalhousie for a gold medal and a great finish to AUS 2023!
Acadia Axewomen came second overall with 692.5 points after Dalhousie's 930 points. The Acadia Axemen also came second overall with 860.5 points after Dalhousie's 968 points.
Eight swimmers will prepare for the U SPORTS National Championship in Victoria, B.C. including Gordon Shortt, Shane Kenny, Dean Sangster, Bo Stokesbury-Price, Sophie Rooney, Ella Collins, Elisabeth Morrison and Grace Earle. Best of Luck to all next weekend.
Provided by Victoria Flowerday and Gina Vaillancourt