Dal once again makes the biggest splash

Dal won gold in the 4×100 metre freestyle relay. Middle four, clockwise from top left, Mary Claire Lynch, Michelle Campbell, Ceilidh MacPherson, Molly Wedge. (Photo by Shelley Ebbett via UPEI Athletics)

They did it again.

Dalhousie’s swimming teams are the AUS champions.

This is the 15th consecutive win on the men’s side and the 12th straight title for the women.

The Tigers topped the podium in 30 of the 38 events they swam in at this past weekend’s meet at UPEI.

Dal’s Kyle Watson and Katie Webster were named swimmers of the meet. James Profit was the male rookie of the meet.

Men’s team captain Kit Moran believes it’s an achievement worth celebrating.

“Winning 15 straight is a significant accomplishment, something that is not currently held by any other swimming squad in the other conferences,” he says.

“One member joked that now we have started winning so consistently, we may never lose again.”

David Sharpe, Molly Wedge and Rachel Shin were among the many to have great swims, but this is standard fare for the Tigers.

What’s not standard is how they are training.

“Only people who had not yet qualified for CI’s tapered,” says Webster. “Some CIS qualifiers actually did small practices in between the prelim and final sessions on Friday and Saturday to make sure that their bodies were not resting too early and to keep up fitness.”

Tapering is a practice where swimmers relax on their training to have higher energy levels so they can perform at their peak.

For them, their focus is on nationals.

‘Our team has consistently been working over the past few years towards shifting our focus from AUS championships to CIS championships,” says Webster. “This meet proved to us that we can be focused on CIS championships in two weeks, unrested and tired, and still stand up and perform.”

Wedge agreed.

“Lance, our new coach, played the AUS championships down this year for those of us competing at CI’s and made it more of a practice meet,” she says. “I’m super excited for CI’s now and I think we’re going to swim significantly better than we did last year.”

Nationals will not be easy for the Tigers. The teams are currently ranked ninth in the country for the men and eighth for the women. Historically, Dal has not performed as well as expected at the CIS championships.

With a new coach, this could be the year to change that. And coming off a win like this one, maybe they’ll end up in the top five.

CIS championships will take place in Calgary from Feb. 21-23.