Tigers lead the pack following Day 2 of Bell AUS Swimming Championships

(SAINT JOHN, N.B.) The Dalhousie Tigers continue to lead the way at the 2025 Bell AUS Swimming Championships at the Canada Games Aquatic Centre in Saint John. 

The Tigers won seven of the 14 day two events on Saturday, including a podium sweep in the women's 200-metre individual medley. Emilie Schofield beat teammate Kate Tuck to the wall by just 11/100ths of a second. 

In the men's 200-metre IM, Dal's Timothy McCowan won in 2:05.88. 

Saturday night's finals began with Dal's Emma Carrier-Clark winning the women's 50-metre freestyle ahead of UNB's Hannah MacLeod and Acadia's Cassidy Karrel. In the men's 50-metre free, Memorial's Chris Weeks broke the AUS record, winning in a time of 21.87 seconds. 

Acadia's Ella Collins was first to the wall in the women's 200-metre breaststroke in a U SPORTS Championships qualifying time of 2:32.32. Collins beat teammate Chloe Popp and Dal's Kate Tuck. UNB's Blake Kingston won the men's 200-metre breaststroke, and he too qualified for the national championship meet, winning in a time of 2:16.43. Kingston beat Dal's Connor Maloney and Jake Gysel to the wall. 

Carrier-Clark earned her second gold of the evening with a win in the women's 400-metre IM while Acadia's David Harvie won the men's 400-metre IM. Harvie's margin of victory over Dal's Logan Sparkes was more than four seconds. 

Just 18/100ths of a second separated first and second in the women's 100-metre backstroke. Acadia's Sophie Rooney finished in 1:03.22, a blink of an eye faster than UNB's Leah Smal, who touched in 1:03.40. The margin of victory in the men's 100-metre backstroke was even smaller. Dal's Cole Mitchell edged UNB's Maxime Kenny by 8/100ths of a second. 

The close finishes continued in the women's 50-metre butterfly, where UNB's Emma Sinclair earned her second gold medal of the weekend by beating Acadia's Sophie Rooney by 15/100ths of a second. Acadia's Sara Bennett finished third, just 3/100ths of a second ahead of the REDS' MacLeod. 

In the men's 50-metre fly, Weeks scored his second win of the night in a U SPORTS Championships qualifying time of 23.26 seconds. 

Dalhousie won the women's 4-by-200-metre freestyle relay, beating teams from Acadia and Memorial. The Tigers won the men's 4-by-200 free relay, once again beating Acadia and the Sea-Hawks. 

After two days of competition, the Tigers lead the men's overall standings ahead of Acadia, UNB, Memoral, and the Mounties. The Axewomen lead the women's standings by just eight points over Dal. UNB, Memorial, and Mount Allison are third, fourth, and fifth. 

The AUS Championships conclude Sunday. Preliminaries go at 10 a.m. (AST) and finals at 6 p.m. 

Source: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics