(HALIFAX, NS) The UNB REDS wrapped up the 2022 Subway Atlantic University Sport Swimming Championships with one more trip to the medal podium on Sunday.
And what a step it was.
Fifth-year RED Jennifer Moore won the women's 100 metre freestyle, in a time of 57.53 seconds, earning her second gold medal of the weekend.
"In the last 20 metres, I didn't know where I was, and all of my limbs were reaching their limits, but I put my head down and moved as fast as I could, knowing the wall was coming soon."
At the wall, Moore edged Dalhousie's Reagan Crowell by a mere 5/100ths of a second. Dal's Martine Nyhof was 13/100ths of a second back of Moore, in third.
"It felt amazing to see the result," she said. "The cheers from my team made it very clear that I'd won. I've been on the podium with Reagan and Martine many times before, and it was an honour to stand between them this time."
"Coming into this weekend, Jennifer was not on any radar screens," said REDS head coach Marta Belsh. "She surprised her teammates and the other swimmers. Her last event was amazing, as she took on a big rival, in Reagan Crowell, and won. She swam a great race with awesome composure and executing perfect performance."
Other performances on Sunday saw Sophie Casey swim to a 5th place finish in the women's 50 metre breaststroke, Lauren Goodine finish 6th in the women's 800 metre freestyle, and Casey and Sydney Bewsher finish 6th and 7th respectively in the women's 200 metre individual medley. UNB's Alexie Sanford won the B Final in the 200 metre individual medley, in a time that would've seen her place 4th in the A Final.
On the men's side of the competition, Matthew Croft was the best of the REDS. He raced to a 5th place finish in the 200 metre backstroke.
"We are rebuilding this team, yet we had the biggest time drops in all events we swam," said Belsh, of the team's overall performance. "We had all swimmers making finals and racing with passion and determination. We raced hard and had a great time doing it. This is a new beginning for us."
Dalhousie captured top spot in both the men's and women's team competitions, while the UNB women were third and the REDS men fifth.
Moore and Bewsher are the only REDS to qualify for the upcoming U SPORTS Championships, in Quebec City. Moore will swim in the 50 metre free, while Bewsher will compete in the 200 metre butterfly.
"This has been an incredibly fun weekend," said Moore. "It was exciting to perform better than I ever have, and to see the whole team pull out swims to be proud of."
"We have to thank Brian Woods, in Saint John," said Coach Belsh. "Jennifer is training a lot in Saint John, because of her studies being there, and Brian has played a huge part in her success."
Finishing her fifth year with the REDS, and because no eligibility was consumed by any student-athlete in the pandemic-cancelled 2020-2021 season, and with another year remaining in her Masters studies, Moore says she will return in 2022-23.
RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: Trevor MacMillan/for Dal Athletics