2024 Subway AUS Championships – Day 1 Recap
(HALIFAX, NS) The Mounties are off to a strong start at the 2024 Subway AUS Championships hosted by Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS. At the end of the Day 1, a total of 26 season best times were posted by our swimmers and an impressive 24 Final appearances were made.
The Women's team saw two podium finishes tonight by Jordan Thomas and Makayla Churchill. Both girls, alongside teammate Julianne Levesque, are leading the team with 16 points each. Thomas' sizzling time of 1:11.78 in the Women's 100m Breaststroke earned her a bronze medal. Her performance also qualified her for the U SPORTS National Championships being held in Montreal, QC in March. As icing on the cake, Jordan's new lifetime personal best time once again solidifies her current school record in that event.
Makayla Churchill also found herself up on the podium after an exhilarating bronze medal swim in the Women's 50m Backstroke. Churchill swam to a personal best time of 30.76, out-touching DAL's Olivia Howe by 0.07 to claim the bronze. Julianne Levesque found herself in two finals tonight after posting major personal best times in the morning preliminaries. Levesque swam to a 7th place finish in the Women's 200m Freestyle and a 12th place finish in the Women's 100m Butterfly.
Also adding to the leaderboard was first-year student, Allison Gauthier, who has scored 13 points for the team after a 6th place finish in the 50m backstroke. Other point scorers for the Women's team are Lauren Griffin-Lepine (12 pts), Megan Jones (6 pts), Rachel Chan (3 pts), Ella Johnson (2 pts), Kenzie Power (1 pt) and Miki Williston (1 pt).
All 11 men found themselves in finals tonight in their respective events. Leading the way is fourth-year captain, Sebastian Cariaga. Cariaga's lifetime best of 26.38 in the Men's 50m Backstroke was rewarded with a silver medal and 17 points for the men's team. Second-year, Aaron McDonald, is not far behind with 11 points after 7th place finish in the 400IM.
Ryan Duggan and Tristan Raine put on a show and battled it out for 1st & 2nd place finishes in the B Final for the Men's 400IM (9th and 10th place overall). Both Duggan and Raine swam to lifetime best times of 4:56.31 and 4:56.62 respectively. John Roberts narrowly missed the school record in the 100m Breaststroke by 0.04 seconds after swimming to a 10th place finish with a time of 1:06.35. This swim also earned him 7 points for the team.
Also adding to the scoreboard for the Men's team are Andrew Kuiper (9 pts), Ian Steinwall Pennington (4 pts), Richard Li (3 pts), Xander Ries (3 pts), Spencer McCarron (1 pts), and Zachary Marques (1 pts).
The 4x100 Free Relay finished off Day 1 finals with the Women's and Men's teams swimming to a 5th place respectively.
Both Mounties Men and Women's teams currently sit in 5th place heading into Day 2 tomorrow.