2023 Subway AUS Championships – Day 1 Recap
The Mounties are off to a strong start at the 2023 Subway AUS Championships hosted by Memorial University in St. John's, Newfoundland February 10-12th. At the end of the Day 1, a total of 30 season best times were posted by our swimmers and 18 Final appearances were made.
Currently leading the Men's team with 16 points is Sebastian Cariaga. Cariaga swam to a 9th place swim in the 100m butterfly with a time of 57.59 as well as a 10th place finish in the 50m freestyle with a time of 24.31. Ryan Duggan, with 7 points currently for the Men's team, swam to a lifetime personal best time in the 400m freestyle with a time of 4:16.59. This swim put him in second place in the Men's B final while placing 10th overall. Other current point scorers for the Men's team are Andrew Kuiper (5 pts), Spencer McCarron (2 pts), Aaron McDonald (2 pts) and Evan Ettinger (1 pt).
On the women's side, first-year Jordan Thomas is leading the way with 17 points for the team. Thomas swam a sizzling time of 33.12 in the 50m breaststroke. This time not only earned her a silver medal, but it also qualified her for the U SPORTS National Championships in Victoria, BC in two weeks. As icing on the cake, Jordan's lifetime personal best time broke the school's previous record of 34.10 set by Katya Parker ('20) back in 2019. Not far behind with 11 points currently is Makayla Churchill who had excellent swims in 100m backstroke (12th place) and 400m freestyle (11th). Also adding to the leaderboard is graduating swimmer, Abigail Flann, who has scored 9 points for the team after swimming to a 9th place finish in the 100m butterfly. Other point scorers for the women's team are Lauren Griffin-Lepine (7 pts), Megan Jones (5 pts), Jane Gurney (3 pts), Haley Fitzgerald (2 pts) and Julianne Levesque (1 pt).
The 4x100 Medley Relay finished off Day 1 finals with the Women's swimming to a 5th place finish while the Men's relay swam to a 4th place finish.
Both Mounties Men and Women's teams sit in 5th place heading into Day 2 tomorrow.
Photo credit: Udantha Chandraratne