(HALIFAX, N.S.) - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2014-15 AUS swimming major award winners. The recipients are selected by the head coaches each year following the CIS championship and take into consideration performances at the national meet.
SWIMMER OF THE YEAR (Male): Kyle Watson, Dalhousie
Kyle Watson, a fourth-year computer science student from Cole Harbour, N.S., had an exceptional season in the pool for the AUS champion Dalhousie Tigers and has been named the AUS male swimmer of the year.
Helping the Tigers to their 17th consecutive championship banner this year at the Subway AUS Swimming Championships, Watson claimed a gold medal in both the 400m and 1500m freestyle events and bronze in the 200m freestyle.
At the 2015 Speedo CIS Swimming Championships in Victoria, B.C., Watson claimed a sixth-place finish in the 1500m freestyle event with a time of 15:58.29.
SWIMMER OF THE YEAR (Female): Meagan Bernier, Dalhousie
Meagan Bernier, a fifth-year student-athlete from Cole Harbour, N.S., is the 2014-15 AUS female swimmer of the year for the third time in her swimming career with the Dalhousie Tigers.
Bernier was the 2010-11 AUS rookie of the year and the 2011-12 and 2013-14 AUS swimmer of the year. This year, she had another stellar season for the Tigers. At the Subway AUS Swimming Championships, she captured gold as part of the 800m freestyle relay team, silver in the 200m freestyle and 200m backstroke events and bronze in the 400m freestyle.
At the Speedo CIS Swimming Championships in Victoria, Bernier topped the podium with a gold medal finish in the 800m freestyle event with a time of 9:01.17.
She was also a member of the Dalhousie Tigers 400m freestyle relay team which placed seventh and the 800m freestyle relay team which placed ninth. Individually, she also earned a 10th-place finish in the 400m freestyle event.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (Male): Sean Berrigan, Dalhousie
The 2014-15 AUS male rookie of the year is Sean Berrigan from Dalhousie University.
The first-year business management student from Dartmouth, N.S. had a solid freshman season for the Tigers, earning three medals at this year's Subway AUS swimming championship hosted by Dalhousie.
Berrgian took home silver medals in both the 50m and 100m backstroke events and earned bronze in the 50m breaststroke. He also finished 4th in the 100m butterfly.
At the Speedo CIS Swimming Championships, Berrigan posted a seventh-place finish in the 50m breaststroke event with a time of 29.61.
He also formed part of the Tigers’ 400m freestyle relay team which placed 10th and the 400m medley relay team which placed 12th.
Individually, Berrigan also tied for 12th in the 50m backstroke on the national stage.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (Female): Phoebe Lenderyou, Dalhousie
The AUS female rookie of the year for 2014-15 is Phoebe Lenderyou from Dalhousie University.
A first-year management student from Newcastle, England, Lenderyou had an impressive freshman season with the Tigers, capturing four gold medals at the Subway AUS Swimming Championships in Halifax. She topped the podium in the 50m backstroke, the 50m and 100m butterfly events and the 200m individual medley.
Lederyou went on to have success at the CIS Speedo Swimming Championships in Victoria, placing fourth in the 50m backstroke, fifth in the 100m backstroke, sixth in the 200m backstroke and seventh in the 100m butterfly.
She helped the Tigers earn a sixth-place finish as a member of the 400m medley relay team, seventh as part of the 400m freestyle relay team and ninth as part of the 800m freestyle relay team.
Following her first season with Dalhousie, Lenderyou already holds AUS records in multiple events, including the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke events as well as the 50m butterfly.
COACH OF THE YEAR (Male): David Fry, Acadia
Acadia Axemen head coach David Fry has been selected by his peers as the 2014-15 AUS men’s swimming coach of the year in his first year at the helm of the Acadia swimming program.
The Axemen swim team earned a second-place finish at the Subway AUS Swimming Championships this season. They went on to place 16th at the CIS Speedo Swimming Championships in Victoria.
Swimmers Luc Boudreau and Hayden Adams from the Axemen squad combined for five gold medals at the AUS championship. Boudreau topped the podium in the 100m and 200m breaststroke events as well as the 200m individual medley. Adams earned gold in the 100m and 200m backstroke events.
Fry’s leadership has had an immediate impact on the Acadia squad. They improved from a third-place finish at the 2014 AUS championship to a second-place finish at this season’s championship and closed the gap on the leading Dalhousie Tigers by 56.5 points. In 2014, the Axemen trailed the Tigers by 193.5 points in the final championship results. This season, they closed the gap to 137 points.
This marks the 11th time David Fry has earned AUS men’s swimming coach of the year honours, but his first win with the Acadia Axemen. Previously, Fry earned the accolade 10 times as head of the Dalhousie Tigers squad, including a seven-season streak from 2006 to 2012.
COACH OF THE YEAR (Female): Lance Cansdale, Dalhousie
Dalhousie Tigers head coach Lance Cansdale has been selected by his peers as the 2014-15 AUS women’s swimming coach of the year.
In his third year at the helm of the Tigers' programs, Cansdale led the women's squad to their 14th consecutive AUS championship banner win and a fifth-place team finish at the CIS championship.
Coach Cansdale is a former four-time NAIA all-American with over forty years' experience as a competitive swimming professional and athlete. This is the second consecutive season he has taken home coach of the year honours.
Prior to joining AUS, Cansdale was honoured with several other swimming accolades, including being named the British Columbia Swim Coaches Association coach of the year twice and also earning the Canadian Swimming Coaches Association coaching recognition award.
Both the Tigers men's and women's squads have recorded first-place team finishes at the AUS championships in all three seasons that Cansdale has served as head coach.
STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD (Male): Nigel Champion, Dalhousie
Nigel Champion of the Dalhousie Tigers is the 2014-15 AUS male student-athlete community service award recipient.
Champion is a third-year biology student from Charlottetown, P.E.I. and a sprinter for the reigning AUS champion Tigers.
At last year's Subway AUS swimming championship, Champion claimed gold in the 400m freestyle relay. He has also managed CIS qualifying times on several occasions.
Excelling not just in the pool, but in the classroom, Champion is a two-time CIS academic all-Canadian. Last semester, he attained a perfect 4.30 GPA in his five courses and aspires to go into medicine following the completion of his undergraduate degree.
Champion is also heavily involved in the community, both in his hometown of Charlottetown and in Halifax.
From 2010 to 2012, Champion volunteered at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown.
His current community service efforts in Halifax include his roles as volunteer and vice president of the Special Tigers Sports Program and as a volunteer swim coach for Special Olympics.
Champion has recently volunteered for such initiatives as the Dalhousie White Ribbon Campaign, which aims to combat violence against women, and the Canadian Cancer Society – for which he proposed and ran a pilot study on public attitudes towards sun exposure and protection.
"Nigel was a raw athlete with a large intelligence when he first arrived at Dal three years ago," said Tigers head swim coach Lance Cansdale. "Now as the two converge, Dal has a great developing athlete and an excellent student, and the community has a champion volunteer."
STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD (Female): Elizabeth Skuriat, Acadia
The 2014-15 recipient of the AUS female student-athlete community service award is Acadia's Elizabeth Skuriat.
She is the first swimmer from Acadia to ever receive the honour.
Skuriat is a fourth-year kinesiology student and a co-captain of the Axewomen's swim team. This season, she qualified for the CIS swimming championships in the 400m freestyle event. She also holds the Acadia school record in this event.
The Georgetown, Ont. native is a three-time CIS academic all-Canadian with a cumulative GPA of 3.78. She is currently completing an honours thesis at Acadia and working in the kinesiology department as a teaching assistant.
Skuriat is heavily involved in the community, participating in an array of volunteer programs. She has logged nearly 200 hours of volunteer time with the Annapolis Valley Cardiac Rehab Program, helping patients with exercise programs.
Also active with the Acadia S.M.I.L.E. (Sensory Motor Instructional Learning Experience) program in Wolfville, Skuriat volunteers each week with children with cognitive and/or physical disabilities. She is also a volunteer with Kinderskills Acadia, a group that works with children between the ages of 0 and 4 to promote and develop gross and fine movement skills.
For an hour each week, Skuriat volunteers as a swim coach for Annapolis Valley Special Olympics. She has also participated in Acadia's Relay for Life for the past two years, is an active member of Acadia's WITS anti-bullying program and belongs to the Acadia Players Association.
This past fall, Skuriat helped to organize the Hoops for Luke charity basketball game to raise funds for a S.M.I.L.E. participant's wheelchair lift.
In April 2014, she travelled to Honduras with the Acadia chapter of the Global Medical Brigades (GMB). GMB is a student-led global health and sustainable development organization. The Acadia chapter organizes yearly missions in Honduras.
"Elizabeth is an outstanding student-athlete in every respect," said Acadia head swim coach David Fry. "She is an outstanding student with a tremendous work ethic. She has never missed a practice in my year as her coach and her achieving a CIS standard was a testimony to this hard work. She is a tremendous mentor and leader as one of our team co-captains. That she can combine this with many and varied community involvements is amazing."
The 2015 Subway AUS swimming championships were hosted by Dalhousie University. Full results: http://atlanticuniversitysport.com/sports/mswim/2014-15/files/2015_aus_swimming_championships_results.pdf.
The 2015 CIS swimming championships were hosted by the University of Victoria. Full results: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/swim/2015/files/sched_results.
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