A very young women’s swim team extended the Tigers AUS championship win streak to 21 in a row.
“Our team was young but was led by a couple of veterans in Reagan Crowell and Allison McCloy,” says head coach Lance Cansdale.
And lead they did. Crowell and McCloy combined for 33 first-place finishes within conference meets this year.
“Their performances were incredible,” he adds. “The younger swimmers filled in the rest of the spots with an improved depth over last season which enabled us to comfortably win the AUS championship title again, despite a much-improved field in the entire conference.”
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The Tigers started off the season with a win at the Amby Legere Invitational, hosted by UNB. Crowell and Kate Tuck led the way, winning five and four events respectively. Two weeks later it was Crowell and McCloy winning four events apiece to secure the win at the Jack Scholz Invitational in Wolfville. At the end of November, the Tigers combined to win 11 of 19 events to win the Kemp-Fry Invitational on home turf. Crowell was the top performer again, winning four individual events and two relays. They continued their winning ways at the AUS championships hosted by Memorial, winning 11 gold medals to out-pace second-place Acadia by more than 238 points. Crowell dominated the freestyle events, winning four individual golds plus two relays.
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McCloy also earned six gold medals – four individual and two relays. Crowell was named both the AUS swimmer of the year and AUS championship swimmer of the meet for the second-consecutive year.
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Two weeks later, the Tigers were off to the national championships hosted by the University of Victoria. Making the trek were Crowell, McCloy, Tuck, Veronica Hollick, Abbey Corish and Emilie Schofield. McCloy had a great meet to end her fifth year of eligibility, earning a spot in the A final of all of her individual events, highlighted by a fourth-place finish in the 400m IM. She was fifth in the 200m butterfly, sixth in the 400m freestyle and seventh in the 800m freestyle. McCloy was also a member of the 400m and 800m freestyle relay teams that placed fifth. Crowell was also a member of both freestyle relays and was eighth in the 400m freestyle. Both Crowell and McCloy will be leaving the program this year. |
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“Reagan and Allison have contributed so much more than the points they earn at each meet,” says Cansdale. “They are proof that you don’t have to swim out of a national training centre to succeed at this level. They have made a great team and are an awesome example of what focused work can accomplish.”
While Crowell and McCloy will be tough to replace, Cansdale is still optimistic for next year.
“We had great performances from many of our swimmers this year and we have a great recruiting class coming in for next season. I expect we should be in line to compete for another conference championship win and improve on our finish at nationals.”
2022-23 Women's Swimming Award Winners
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| Co-Team MVP - Reagan Crowell | Co-Team MVP - Allison McCloy |