By John DeCoste
The Acadia swim teams are primed for the AUS championships this coming weekend, with the men’s team in particular looking for a top-three finish.
At the AUS Invitational, the last meet of the regular season held Jan. 19-20 at Dalhousie, the Acadia men were a strong third with 123 points for top finishes, just two points behind second-place Mount Allison.
The Acadia women placed fifth on their side of the competition with 35 points. The teams from Dalhousie were runaway winners of both the men’s and women’s titles.
In terms of individual results, Hayden Adams continued his pursuit of the award for the conference’s top male rookie swimmer.
The 18-year-old Wolfville Tritons graduate earned eight medals in all, five in individual swims and three more in relays.
Adams was second in 50 and 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly and third in 50 freestyle and 200 butterfly.
Adams teamed up with Justin LeBlanc, Thomas Frazer and Luc Boudreau for a second-place swim in the 4X50 medley relay.
Adams, Boudreau, Brett Sonnichsen and Colin Vibert were second in 4X100 medley relay, and Vibert, Frazer, Adams and Boudreau were third in 4X100 freestyle relay.
Luc Boudreau was second in 50 breaststroke, third in 100 butterfly, fourth in 50 and 200 ’fly and ninth in 50 back.
Justin LeBlanc was third in 100 breast, eighth in 50 breast and tenth in 100 breast. Adam Fowler was third in 1,500 free and sixth in 400 free.
Vibert placed fifth in 400 free and sixth in 200 breast, while Sonnichsen was seventh in both 100 and 200 ’fly.
On the women’s side, Eliza McGuire was third in both 100 and 200 ’fly and 10th in 50 breast, 200 free and 200 IM for a total of five top-10 swims.
Elizabeth Skuriat was sixth in 100 back and 400 free and 10th in 100 free. Kristen MacPherson was sixth in 50 back and seventh in 100 back.
Kayla Boudreau was eighth in 200 breast, Cynthia Pfeiffer was eighth in 50 back, and Taylor Russell was ninth in 50 back and tenth in 100 back.
The AUS swim championships are Feb. 8-10 at UPEI, with the top finishers from that competition moving on to the CIS championships Feb. 21-23 in Calgary.
Luc Boudreau and Justin LeBlanc represented Acadia at last year’s CIS meet.
