The 2019-20 season begins Saturday at UNB with the Amby Legere Invitational meet
By: Dwayne Tingley
Lance Cansdale has been head coach of the Dalhousie Tigers women's and men's swimming teams for eight winning seasons and he still remembers the valuable lessons he learned from legendary coach David Fry.
"The balance between the performance in the classroom and the pool creates a more rounded young person that can put their best foot forward when the pressure is the greatest," Cansdale recalled.
It's a formula that has stood the test of time. The Tigers have won 21 consecutive AUS men's swimming championships and 18 women's titles in a row.
"Each team has a different personality, but the constant is the culture of both dedication and commitment to our student-athletes in and out of the pool," said Cansdale, who served on the Canadian coaching staff at the 2001 and 2003 world championships and the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
The Tigers carry 18 swimmers on each of their teams. They have 12 returning men and 13 returning women from last year's championship teams.
AUS champions Alec Karlsen, Tyler Immel-Herron, Christian Payne, Calum Kershaw and Quinn West are back on the men's team. AUS champions Lise Cinq-Mars, Claire Yurkovich, Isabel Sarty, Reagan Crowell and Victoria MacDonald are back with the women's squad.
"Knowing that the AUS competition will be tough this season, our hope is to ride great performances to Top 10 finishes at the 2020 U SPORTS championships in Victoria this February," Cansdale said.
"The hope is that they will learn along the way and grow through the season to become the best that they have ever been."
Acadia placed second in both the women's and men's divisions last year and head coach Gary MacDonald has set his team's sights on capturing the men's title this season. For the Axewomen, he's looking to close the gap on the Tigers.
"Ultimately," MacDonald said, "we want everyone to improve and get as many U SPORTS qualifiers as possible. Potentially, we could get near double-digits this season."
The Axemen have 21 swimmers, but only 18 can compete. The Axewomen have a full complement of 18 swimmers.
Key returning swimmers are: Brett Liem and Ben Henger on the men's side and Kelsea Vessey and Jessica Pelletier on the women's team. Liem was selected the AUS swimmer of the year the last two seasons.
"It's an amazing group of athletes with an incredible work ethic," MacDonald noted.
The UNB Reds finished third in the overall standings last year, followed by the Memorial Sea-Hawks and Mount Allison Mounties.
The Reds will host the season-opening Amby Legere Invitational on Oct. 19-20 in Fredericton. The final meet of the season will be hosted by Acadia on Jan. 18-19 in Wolfville, N.S.
The Subway AUS Swimming Championships are set for Feb. 7-9 in Halifax and the 2020 U SPORTS Championships are scheduled for Feb. 20-22 in Victoria, B.C.
The Reds will have all eight swimmers on their men's team returning and 10 of the 13 members of the women's team are back. Key returnees are: Noah Horwood, Erik Staeben, Eric Meng, Leah Smal, Jennifer Moore and Alexie Sanford.
"We are working hard on making individual stroke improvements, increasing our range of skills and setting up a good foundation," said Reds head coach Marta Belsh.
"From the team perspective, we are working hard on building a positive and supportive team environment and setting our expectations high when it comes to the performance."
She expects most of her swimmers to improve their own personal standards this season.
In St. John's, N.L., the Sea-Hawks have 15 women and 12 men on their roster, which features 13 rookies. Key swimmers returning are: AUS medalist Thomas Chafe and captains Laura Pittman and Dylan Morawski.
"We want to be a force to be reckoned with throughout the AUS with a goal of winning medals in all relays," said Sea-Hawks head coach Duffy Earle.
"Overall, we have a lot of talent this year and we are looking at improving our position (in the conference)."
The Mounties have 23 returning swimmers—15 women and seven men, including Noah Mascoll Gomes, last year's rookie of the year. He competed at the world championships this year and is looking to represent his native Antigua at the 2020 Olympic Games.
Other key swimmers back at Mount Allison are Oliver Keith, Sabrina Baker, Lauren Dessureault, Lindsey Partington, Megan Fitzgerald, Jill Downey, Elsa Immer and Carson Rafuse.
"Because we are carrying a small team, our emphasis will be on personal best times and we do not have a real concern with team placing," said Mounties head coach John Peters.