Team spirit spells success for Acadia swimmers
Axemen, Axewomen finish Kemp Fry Invitational third
The Acadia swim team collected 14 individual medals and five relay medals at the annual Kemp Fry Invitational Meet.
The group finished third in both the women’s and men’s standings.
Leading the Axemen were third year swimmer Brett Liem who dominated the sprint events by setting three USPORT standards, three varsity records and one AUS record. Benjamin Henger qualified for U SPORTS championship in the 100 butterfly.
Team captain Guy Harrison – Murray posted a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle.
The men’s relay team continued their challenge against the Tigers and again pulled out an upset by beating them in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay.
Sophomore Kelsea Vessey continued to show her strengths in the butterfly and freestyle events by requalifying in the 100m and 200m butterfly events with two silver medals.
A surprise of the meet was first year swimmer Cali Bruce who came away with several amazing performances in all four of her events including two seconds and a third placing. Her top performance in the 50m butterfly had her only five onehundredths of a second from qualifying for the U SPORTS Championships.
Jessica Pelletier picked up two second placings in the 50m and 100m backstroke and qualified for two USPORT standards.
“Overall both teams showed great strength and the team vibe was as good as it ever has been. This is only the first step in what hopes to be a very exciting season. We have four qualifiers for U SPORTS championships and a couple of swimmers who came close. The second half should be very challenging as we continue to improve and push for our first ever AUS championships. Team spirit was incredible with all swimmers contributing to our success,” said head coach Gary MacDonald.
Next stop for the Acadia swim team is training camp in Montreal during the holiday break and the AUS championships in early February.