Tigers sweep titles in 2017 AUS Swimming Championships

By Thomas Becker 

The championship streaks are alive and well. 

After the third and final day of competition, the Dalhousie Tigers captured both 2016-17 AUS swimming titles – the 19th consecutive win for the men and the 16th for the women. 

"I'm really proud of this group," said Tigers head coach Lance Cansdale. "We fought through a lot of adversity and for that reason this was a pretty sweet one." 

The Tigers wasted little time as Claire Yurkovich (800m freestyle) earned her team the first gold medal in Day 3 of the competition. AUS female rookie of the meet and teammate Meg Mackay finished third, while UNB's Kayla Martin placed second. 

Memorial's Veronica Reid earned gold in the 50m breaststroke, leading the Sea-Hawks to three first place finishes Sunday night. Teammate Charli LeBlanc captured gold in the women's 100m freestyle, while Sam Leawood beat out AUS swimmer of the meet Gavin Dyke and Mount Allison's Geraint Berger in the men's 100m freestyle. 

"We were really happy with our results," said Memorial head coach Duffy Earle. "We've been working hard all year and this was probably our best AUS championships in years." 

Female swimmer of the meet Phoebe Lenderyou earned gold for Dalhousie in the 200m backstroke, followed by Mount Allison's Olivia Feschuk and Tiger Sarah Williams. Lenderyou and Feschuk each posted U Sports qualifying times in the event. 

Feschuk's time of 2:20.57 in the 200m IM was good enough for U Sports standards and earned her a gold medal. While Acadia's Alison MacEachern and Dalhousie's Alexis Brgman joined her on the podium. 

On the men's side, UNB's Justin LeBlanc captured gold – the team's only first place finish of the night – in the 50m breaststroke, beating out Tiger Sam Cusimano and Axeman Brett Liem. 

Dalhousie swept the 200m backstroke with Tyler Herron finishing atop the podium ahead of fellow teammates Alec Karlsen and Morrgan Payne. Karlsen was named male rookie of the meet for his overall performance this weekend. 

The Tigers also swept the podium in the marathon 1500m freestyle event with Quinn West taking home the gold, followed by Mac Holden and Jackson Sinclair. 

In the 200m IM, Dalhousie's Keenan Teghtsoonian finished first, while teammate Herron and Acadia's Adam Deutsch came second and third, respectively. 

The Tigers also took home gold in both 4x100m medley relay races to conclude their championship weekend. 

"My hat goes off to all the teams," Cansdale said. "They showed great depth and competitiveness this weekend and that's a good thing for our conference moving forward."