Preview to AUS Championships at Dalhousie

(Halifax, N.S.) The 2016 Subway AUS Swimming Championship will get underway this Friday at the Dalplex. The Dalhousie Tigers will host the event that will feature the best collegiate swimmers in Atlantic Canada who will be vying to compete in the 2016 Speedo CIS Swimming Championship in Quebec, Que., February 26-28.

The three-day event will feature swim teams from Acadia University, Memorial University, Mount Allison University, University of New Brunswick, University of Prince Edward Island and the host Dalhousie University.

Daily preliminary races will get underway each day at 10:00 a.m., while the finals will get started at 6:00 p.m.

Let's take a look at the teams competing this weekend:

Acadia Axemen/Axewomen

After one season under interim coach David Fry, former assistant Dalhousie coach Gary MacDonald took the reins of the Axemen and Axewomen who finished second on the men's side and third on the women's in last season's AUS championship meet.

This season the Axewomen and Axemen hoped to continue to strive for good team results following the graduation of several key members of last year's squad.

The Acadia Swim team finished second in men's swimming and third place in women's category at the AUS opening swim meet of the 2015-16 season - the Amby Legere Invitational hosted by UNB.

At the annual Jack Scholz meet hosted by Acadia, once again the Acadia squads posted second and third place finishes respectively for the Axemen and Axewomen. Top performances came from Hayden Adams and Adam Deutsch. Deutsch captured a win in the 100m butterfly and 50m breaststroke, while Adams captured first in the 200m backstroke, 100m butterfly and 50m butterfly. Allison MacEachern finished first in the 200m butterfly.

The Acadia team travelled to Dalhousie in late November for the first ever Kemp-Fry Invitational at Dalhousie prior to the Christmas Break.

Although small in numbers the Acadia team challenged at every chance and came away with many great swims. Rebecca MacPherson led the way with four outstanding swims including a victory in the 200 freestyle. She earned 3 CIS standards with three top 3 performances (200m freestyle, 100m freestyle and 200m backstroke) Acadia's top male performer was Hayden Adams who had four spectacular final performances including a morning swim in the 200m backstroke which earned his ticket to CIS champs in Laval.

Dalhousie Tigers

The pre-emptive favourites have held the crown as AUS championships on both the men's (17 consecutive) and women's (14 consecutive) side for over a decade, establishing themselves as powerhouses that are forces to be reckoned with.

The men's and women's teams enter the AUS championship ranked fifth and six in the CIS, respectively. They've gone undefeated so far in the AUS meets this season, and have an impressive 15 swimmers (seven women and eight men) that have posted CIS qualifying times thus far.

On the women's side, keep an eye out for England native Phoebe Lenderyou in the backstroke and butterfly events. In her first season with the Tigers, Lenderyou had four top eight finishes at the CIS championships last year and set seven new AUS and Dalhousie records. Veteran swimmers Rachel Shin (butterfly and IM) and Katherine Webster (distance free/IM) and newcomers Lisa Cinq-Mars (butterfly/free) and Claire Yurkovich (distance free) will be big scorers this weekend as they have all posted multiple CIS qualifying times.

Third-years Gavin Dyke (free) and Tony Liew (breast/back) and fifth-year Kyle Watson (distance free) will look to lead the way on the men's side, as will freshmen Morrgan Payne (back) and Tyler Immel-Herron (back/IM). They will all make some serious noise this weekend.

Fourth-year head coach Lance Cansdale says that in an event like this, there are bound to be surprises.

"In a meet like this, who knows where the star will come from," explains Cansdale. "Someone always surprises and pops out to realize untapped potential. That can be said for all the schools competing."

The Tigers ran away with first-place in the AUS in both the men's and women's competitions this year in three AUS meets, posting more than double the points of their closest competitors.

Memorial Sea-Hawks

As the season began, you could tell there was new positive energy surrounding the Sea-Hawks with a new coaching staff of Chris Roberts and Duffy Earle. With a late start to the season the Sea-Hawks hit their first development swim meet at the November Kemp/Fry Invitational. The Sea-Hawks started posting best times very quickly; each time the Sea-Hawks got on the blocks they were showing how much they wanted to win.

At their first taper meet of the season in December the Sea-Hawks performed at their all-time best. There were many promising swims with David Haines, Nick Sparkes, Sam Leawood and Ryan George all qualifying for Eastern Canadians. Capping off the teams performances was Sam Leawood making Olympic trials and being the first Sea-Hawk of the season to make CIS qualifying times. The women's team is rebuilding showing promise for future seasons.

With the Sea-Hawks training and racing through Christmas break they are going into the AUS swimming championships with high expectations. Coaches Roberts and Earle expect more CIS qualifiers.

Mount Allison Mounties

The swimming Mounties are very excited about the upcoming AUS championships.

Coming back from a successful meet at UPEI last week and very intense training camp over the Christmas holidays, the Mounties are looking for some stellar performances.

Coach Peters believes his team has worked very hard this year and are ready to perform at the championship meet.

University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds

In the first meet of the season, UNB's own Amby Legere Invitational, Charli LeBlanc qualified in the women's 50-metre backstroke, for the CIS championships. She did so in a timed trial, going two-tenths under the qualifying standard. LeBlanc has since qualified for the CIS meet in 50m free, 100m backstroke and 50m butterfly.

Despite a late-season injury, Lauren Adam has been a dominant breaststroker. She won the women's 50, 100 and 200 metre events at the UNB meet and the 50m at the Acadia and Dalhousie meets.

Marya Peters won the women's 100-metre freestyle at the UPEI meet, one of her five top-three finishes in Charlottetown.

University of Prince Edward Island Panthers

The UPEI swim team started off the season with a strong roster of six returning athletes and six first years. Over the span of the season there were many seasonal and lifetime bests. First year swimmer, Matthew Smith, had a stellar start as a UPEI Panther breaking six UPEI records before the Christmas break.

Fellow first year swimmer, Callie McAulay, broke two school records as well.

After the Christmas break, the team made two additions to the roster. Returning UPEI Panther, Joseph Sulaiman, and California State University transfer, Stephanie Hatayama, both swam well at the first meet in the New Year.

The weekend is sure to be jam-packed full of exciting AUS swimming action, with action getting underway Friday morning at 10:00am. Admission for fans is free all weekend and the entire championship will be broadcast live online at www.AUStv.ca and on Bell Aliant TV1. For live results, check http://www.swimnovascotia.com/online

Keep up-to-date with daily recaps that will highlight the action! They can be found at www.daltigers.ca and www.atlanticuniversitysport.com at the end of each day of competition.