Nine members of the UPEI Swimming team travelled to Dalhousie this past weekend to compete in the AUS Invitational. Top Atlantic conference swimmers from Dalhousie, UNB and Acadia were in attendance. An impressive 65% of the times resulted in seasonal best times with several lifetime bests being posted.
For the first time in UPEI swimming history a swimmer has won a AUS individual event. Eric Beaton took the gold in the 50 meter Freestyle event over the top male sprinters in the AUS. His time of 24.34 is mere tenths of a second off the CIS qualifying time of 23.89 needed for the National Championships. The event was close the whole way with Beaton out touching DAL rookie Jo Jo Ur by only .01 of a second. For his effort Beaton picks up the “Top Male Performance” for the meet. The relay team of Eric Beaton, Andrew Harding, Ryan Mills and Alexander MacDonald was also in top form, posting a strong time in their 400 Freestyle relay placing 3rd behind DAL and UNB.
For the second straight meet the “Top Female Performance” was captured by Sydney Morley with 7th place finishes in the 100 and 200 Freestyle events. Followed closely by veteran swimmer Mikhala Brinklow with a 9th place finish in the 100 Freestyle. Maranda Grant and Marianne Parent both posted two lifetime best swims during the meet. Parent was the “Most Improved” during the meet with a 4.06 second drop in her 100 Freestyle and four seasonal best times. Rounding out the female squad was rookie Suzanne Nicholson posting seasonal best times in both the 100 Freestyle and 200 IM events.
Assistant coach Kelly O’Connell was the meet coach and she commented, “Overall, the performance was top notch with many season best times and even some lifetime best times. Marianne took significant time off her races and another great highlight was Eric winning the 50 freestyle event.”
The next competition for the team will be in Summerside for the Fall Splash. While not a Varsity competition, it will give the swimmers a chance to race against the top age group swimmers on the Island.
Department of Athletics