Swimmers continue to dominate at Kemp-Fry

By Chelsea Norris, Dalhousie Athletics 

The evening session of day two of the Kemp-Fry Invitational Swim meet saw thirteen more U SPORTS qualifying times in the pool at Dalplex.  

Before the evening finals had even gotten underway, an AUS record had already fallen. Dalhousie's Adam Bouma (Belleville, ON) swam a blistering 1:02.06 in the 100m breaststroke, besting fellow Tiger Tony Liew's time by twenty-six hundredths of a second.  

The Tigers claimed the to two spots in the first race of the night with Elaine Gentleman (Calgary, AB) and Lauren Mosher (North Saanich, BC) touching before Memorial's Kate Williams (St. John's, NL) in the 50m freestyle. The men's 50m freestyle saw three athletes touch under U SPORTS qualifying time. Acadia's Dean Sangster came in at 22.78 while teammate Shane Kenny lowered his time from the morning, touching in at 23.03. Dal's Noah Mascoll-Gomes (St. John's, Antigua) placed third with a time of 23.12.  

A trio of rookies swept the podium in the women's 400m IM. Dalhousie's Emilie Schofield (Miramichi, NB), Mikhaela-Reign Johnson (Sault Ste-Marie, ON) and Madison Penney (Yellowknife, NT) touched the wall before the rest of the field. The men's 400m IM had the crowd on their feet in a tight and exiting race. Memorial's Matty Whelan beat the Tigers Logan Sparkes (Agassiz, BC) and James Quigley (London, ON) to the wall in a time of 4:28.71.  

The 100m butterfly saw Kassidy Hamilton of Acadia beat Memorial's Heidi Perry and fellow Axewoman Aideen Nelson. Acadia's Kenny was back in the pool for the 100m fly, taming two Tigers to take top spot and meeting the U SPORTS qualifying standard at the same time. Christian Payne (Dartmouth, NS) and Freddy Chandler-Baas (Ottawa, ON) touched the wall in second and third respectively.  

The crowd was back on their feet for the women's 200m backstroke. Acadia's Grace Earle (Halifax, NS) and Memorial's Williams were neck-in-neck the whole race, but the Sea-Hawk came out on top with a time of 2:15.41. Both athletes came in under the U SPORTS qualifying standard. A tough battle was also fought in the men's 200m backstroke between Acadia's Sangster and Dalhousie's Liam Ferguson (Upper Tantallon, NS). Sangster ended up being too much for the Tiger to handle, touching in first (and under the U SPORTS standard) at 2:01.20. Dalhousie's Cole Mitchell (Collingwood, ON) came third.  

A Tigers sweep happened twice more in the evening session. First, in the 100m breaststroke race, Abby Corish (Summerside, PE), Schofield and Victoria MacDonald (Sackville, NS) beat out their fellow swimmers. Corish also made the U SPORTS standard touching in at 1:12.00. A short while later, Reagan Crowell (Lakeville, NB), Abbey Nichols (Brockville, ON) and Amelia Lane (Stillwater Lake, NS) went 1-2-3 in the 200m freestyle.  

One could argue the highlight of the night was the Tigers Bouma lowering his AUS record in the 100m breaststroke that he set in the morning. Bouma swam a very fast 1:01.87 in the final, shaving almost 20 one hundredths of a second off his time.  

Inspired by the fast times of fellow Tigers, Mascoll-Gomes blew past the rest of the pool in the 200m free touching in at 1:49.35. Dalhousie's Sparkes and Acadia's Bo Stokesbury-Price (West Brooklyn, NS) touched the wall in second and third respectively.  

There were a couple more U SPORTS qualifying times left in the pool in this session. Acadia's Jessica Pelletier (Fredericton, NB) qualified in the 50m backstroke while Dalhousie's Payne will also be racing at the national championship in the 50m back.  

The Tigers relay team of Schofield, Martine Nyhof (Mississauga, ON), Gentleman and Crowell touched first in the 400m free relay over the Acadia team of Elisabeth Morrison (Fredericton, NB), Earle, Hamilton, and Lia Lancaster (Victoria, BC) and the Memorial team of Williams, Perry, Ali Warren (Paradise, NL) and Kathryn Stokes (Logy Bay, NL).  

The men's 400m free relay was an exciting final race of the night. Acadia's team of Sangster, Kenny, Stokesbury-Price and Gordon Shortt (Simcoe, ON) led the Tigers team of Sparkes, Payne, Ethan Boyle (Halifax, NS) and Mascoll-Gomes until Mascoll-Gomes hit the pool. He was able to make up the almost body length of distance between the two teams and had the entire crowd on their feet for the last 25m. But it was not meant to be, with Acadia's Shortt touching the wall two hundredths of a second ahead of Mascoll-Gomes.  

Women's Standings