It was a strong showing for the Memorial Sea-Hawk swimmers at the 2016-17 Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Swimming Championships.
The swim team has been under new leadership since the beginning of the 2015-16 season, with coaches Duffy Earle and Chris Roberts looking to create a competitive program in the AUS.
1/ Starting blocks
From left in the red swim caps are Sea-Hawks Charli LeBlanc, Veronica Reid and Ciara Arnott racing for Memorial.
2/ In the lead
Veronica Reid, in the red swim cap at far right, outpaces UPEI and Dalhousie swimmers and her teammate, Ciara Arnott.
3/ On your marks
Sea-Hawk Charli LeBlanc, in the red cap, gets limbered up to race.
4/ Podium presence
At far right, Sea-Hawk David Haines took a silver in the 50-meter backstroke event.
5/ Multiple medallist
At far right, Sea-Hawk Charli LeBlanc won individual silver medals in the 50-meter backstroke, 50-meter butterfly and 50-meter freestyle events.
6/ Deep breath
Sea-Hawk Evan Tynski powers through his breaststroke race.
That direction is starting to pay off, as the Sea-Hawks claimed 17 medals, including five gold medal performances during the championship event at the University of Prince Edward Island from Feb. 10-12.
“We were really happy with our results,” said Mr. Earle, head coach. “We’ve been working hard all year and this was probably our best AUS championships in years.”
Memorial’s Veronica Reid earned gold in the 50-meter breaststroke, 100-meter breaststroke, and 200-meter breaststroke.
Sam Leawood beat out AUS swimmer of the year, Gavin Dyke, and Mount Allison’s Geraint Berger in the men’s 100-meter freestyle.
Charli LeBlanc captured gold in the women’s 100-meter freestyle, and finished with five medals: the gold plus silvers in the 50-meter backstroke, 50-meter butterfly, 50-meter freestyle and the 400-meter freestyle relay, which also featured Allison Somers, Becca Dyer, and Ms. Reid.
Ms. Reid also finished the weekend with five medals, and added a bronze in the 50-meter freestyle.
Also earning hardware for the Sea-Hawks was fifth-year David Haines, who grabbed a silver in the 50-meter backstroke, and a bronze in the 100 meter. Nick Sparkes secured a bronze for the Sea-Hawks in the 200-meter breaststroke, while Mr. Leawood, Curtis McKay, Daniel Sparkes, and Ryan George won bronze in the 400-meter freestyle relay.
Overall, the men finished third overall, while the women finished in fourth place overall.
Community service award
To top it all off, Logan Slade was named the 2016-17 AUS student-athlete community service award recipient during the awards banquet prior to the competition.
Mr. Slade is a third-year kinesiology student from St. John’s, N.L., in his second year of eligibility for the Sea-Hawks men’s swim team.
In the classroom, he has managed a cumulative GPA of 3.76 and currently boasts a 4.0 GPA.
He is the recipient of the Memorial University Endowment Fund Scholarship as well as the Centenary of Responsible Government Scholarship.
Mr. Slade is heavily involved in an array of community initiatives, including volunteer swim coach for Special Olympics Newfoundland and Labrador.
