PREVIEW: 2023 Subway AUS Swimming Championships

(ST. JOHN'S, N.L.) The 2023 Subway AUS Swimming Championships begin tomorrow at The Works Aquarena in St. John's, N.L.

The Memorial University Sea-Hawks are hosting the conference championship for the first time since 2014.

The first races get underway Friday at 10 a.m. NST, with Day 1 finals beginning at 6 p.m. NST. Heats and finals will take place at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday as the teams compete for the 2023 conference titles.

The reigning champion Dalhousie Tigers will travel to Newfoundland to compete against the host Memorial Sea-Hawks, the Acadia Axemen and Axewomen, the UNB Reds and the Mount Allison Mounties.

On the women's side, the Tigers look to continue their dominant streak of 20 consecutive titles.

Leading the way are Reagan Crowell and Allison McCloy who won 12 and 11 individual events respectively in the first three meets of the season. Currently in her fourth year of eligibility, Crowell has been a dominating force in the freestyle events, while transfer student McCloy's success has been in the butterfly and individual medley events. 

Newcomer Kate Tuck has made a mark early on in the AUS, winning four individual events in the first half of the season.

The Dalhousie men's team has captured 22 of the past 23 AUS championship banners.

The Tigers came out on top in every invitational meet they participated in this season, with big wins from Noah Mascoll-Gomes, Logan Sparkes and Liam Ferguson.

A fourth-year sprint freestyler, Mascoll-Gomes earned four individual wins in two meets this year. Second-year freestyler Sparkes has seen a lot of success in the longer distances and has six individual wins, while second-year backstroke and butterfly specialist Ferguson has four heading into championship weekend.

First-year multidiscipline swimmer Isaac Bahler has made waves early on, winning the 200m butterfly event at two meets this year.

The Tigers men's team's winning streak was interrupted at the 2020 AUS championship when the Acadia Axemen upset the juggernauts to take home the conference title.

The Axemen have been nipping at the Tigers' heels all season, coming in second at each invitational meet the two teams competed in—including finishing just 20.5 team points behind at the Jack Scholz Invitational Meet in October.

Twelve Acadia team records were set this regular season and Gordon Shortt set a new AUS record in the 50m breaststroke at the Kemp-Fry Invitational. 

The UNB REDS began the season in comfortable waters, hosting the first meet of the season.

That may have accounted for the comfort of two newcomers to the team and the early success they saw.

Ethan Nestoruk swam to victory in the men's 50m breaststroke at UNB's Amby Legere Invitational, while Élodie Martin was third in the women's 50m freestyle.

The newcomers continued to shine throughout the season, with Nestoruk winning the men's 100m breaststroke at Acadia's Jack Scholz Invitational and capturing second in the 50m breaststroke at Dal's Kemp-Fry Meet.

Veteran Jennifer Moore, in her final season of eligibility, stayed true to a famililar pattern, rounding into form late in the season. At the Kemp-Fry Meet, Moore won the women's 50m free and was second in the 100m free, setting the stage for what could be an interesting conference championship meet.

REDS relay teams also showed well during the season and should challenge for medals at this weekend's championships.

From the Mount Allison Mounties women's team, graduating senior Abigail Flann will be a contender in the butterfly events, while rookie Jordan Thomas looks to make her mark in breaststroke.

Sebastian Cariaga is swimmer to watch from the Mounties men's team. Going into the meet, he is ranked second in his top events—the 50m and 100m freestyles—and with a solid training season, he is looking to challenge in all four of his individual events.

Mount Allison's Aaron McDonald is ranked fourth in the 1500m freestyle, while Ryan Duggan looks to reset his own team record in the same race.

The host Sea-Hawks rosters have significantly increased over the last few seasons—they bring 18 female and 16 male swimmers to the meet.

Memorial swimmers set several provincial records at various meets this season, including in the men's 4x50 medley relay at the Jack Scholz Invitational Meet, and in the 400m individual medley and 200m individual breaststroke at the Kemp Fry Invitational to name a few.

Two Memorial swimmers and 2022 AUS rookies of the year (Kate Williams and Matthew Whelan) qualified for U SPORTS during the regular season.

Live results will be available throughout the weekend and the event will be webcast live on AUStv.

The U SPORTS national championships will take place Feb. 23 to 25 at the University of Victoria in Victoria, B.C. More information about the national championships can be found here.