Smal Posts Pair Of Wins At Dal Meet
(HALIFAX, NS) The UNB REDS finished fourth in the combined team standings at the Dal Invitational in Halifax this past weekend, the final regular season meet of the 2024-25 Atlantic University Sport swimming season.
The REDS' men's team finished third, behind Dal and Acadia, in the men's standings. The women were fourth.
Leah Smal and Blake Kingston each posted a pair of wins to lead the UNB effort.
On Satuday, Smal swam to victory in the women's 100-metre backstroke, beating second and third place by 3/10ths of a second and 4/10ths of a second respectively.
"A veteran, Leah is showing excellent signs of improvement in her race execution," said REDS' head coach Marta Belsh.
Kingston won the men's 100-metre breaststroke in a time of 1:03.44. Teammate Ethan Nestoruk was fourth, just 2/10ths of a second off a third place finish, while UNB's Maxime Kenny was sixth.
Kenny swam to a third place finish in the men's 200-metre individual medley. Kingston swam seventh in that event.
In the women's 200-metre butterfly on Saturday, UNB's Emma Sinclair was fourth, just 14/100ths of a second back of third place, and Natalie Parsons swam to a fifth place finish in the women's 800-metre freestyle.
On Sunday, Kingston won the men's 50-metre breaststroke, beating Memorial's Jake LeCoure by just 17/100ths of a second. Nestoruk placed fifth.
"I'm really happy with the team's performance this weekend," said Kingston. "Everyone is on track for where we want to be at the AUS Championships."
Smal won the women's 50-metre backstroke, touching the wall almost a full second ahead of second place.
Kenny posted another podium finish, swimming to second place in the men's 400-metre individual medley. Nestoruk was fifth.
"Ethan scored more points at this meet than he has at any other meet in his time with UNB," said Coach Belsh. "He's showing us promising signs of improvement and further contributions to the team."
Kenny also swam to a third place finish in the men's 200-metre backstroke.
Kingston swam fourth in the men's 200-metre breaststroke. Aidan Harrison was ninth.
Elodie Martin was fifth in the women's 200-metre backstroke.
"Following a solid and challenging training block, I thought the team rose to the occasion, stepping up and putting their skills to the test at this meet," said Coach Belsh.
The next event on the AUS swimming calendar is the conference championship meet, February 21st to 23rd. The REDS will host that event at the Canada Games Aquatic Centre, in Saint John.
"We're looking forward to representing UNB at our best when we host the conference championships, in Saint John," said Kingston.
RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: Emily Titus/for UNB Athletics