Another year, another pile of accolades for the Dalhousie Tigers swimming teams.
Since 2001, both Tigers teams have won the AUS championship, and this year’s group looks determined to keep that streak alive.
The Tigers began their season on October 18 at the Amby Legere Invitational at UNB. The women’s team went home with 13 individual event wins, with Alison Grant, Keishia Mills, Rachel Shin, Katie Webster and Molly Wedge coming out on top. The women’s team also won the 200 and 400m medley relays. Wedge was named the female swimmer of the meet.
The men’s team matched the women’s total with 13 individual event wins of their own. Kyle Watson, Nigel Champion, David Sharpe, Joe Ur, Chris Reith and Tony Liew all finised in first place in their respective events.
And of course, the men also matched the women by winning the 200 and 400m medley relay.
The two teams continued to have startlingly similar results at the meet, with both teams coming out on top. The women finished with 248 points, while the men had a final of 251 points.
The Tigers then were off to compete in the Jack Scholz AUS Invitational at Acadia. The women’s team was extremely successful on the first day, winning six individual events, while the men took home three of their own. Day two brought four more first-place finishes for the women’s side, while the men grabbed two of their own. Shin, Grant, Mill, Wedge, Paige Crowell and Paige Robillard all stood on top of the podium for their respective events on the women’s side. Sharpe, Reith and Watson won events for the men’s team.
In the team events, the women went home with the 400m freestyle and 200m medley relay titles. The men were the top finishers in the 200m freestyle relay.
Both teams finished the weekend on top of the podium again, cruising to their second wins of the year.
It was the Tigers turn to host on November 16 with the Dalhousie Swimming Invitational.
The Tigers were not very gracious hosts, winning 30 of 36 events over the weekend. They dominated in every aspect of the meet, and came away with the easy victory.
Molly Wedge broke the AUS and Nova Scotian records in the 100m freestyle with a time of 55.92 on the first day of competition. That record-breaking performance, to go along with a win in the 400m IM, earned her the title of Dalhousie, AUS and CIS female athlete of the week.
Many Tigers posted CIS-qualifying times, including female swimmers Wedge, Ceilidh MacPherson, Meagan Bernier, Paige Crowell, Keishia Mills, Cara McCullum, Paige Robillard, Katie Webster, Rachel Shin and Alison Grant. On the men’s side, David Sharpe, Joe Ur, Tony Liew, Nik Taylor, Kyle Watson and James Profit also posted CIS qualifying times.
It’s hard to imagine anyone but the Tigers on top of the AUS podium in February, and the Tigers will look to dominate again when they host another meet on January 18 and 19 at the Dalplex.