2010 AUS swim championship on tap this weekend at UPEI

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE - The Atlantic University Sport (AUS) winter championship season begins this weekend as UPEI hosts the 2010 Subway AUS Swimming Championships. It marks the first time the University of Prince Edward Island will play host to the Atlantic conference championship meet which runs February 5-7 at the Capital Area Recreation centre in Charlottetown.

Participating in the meet will be athletes representing Acadia University, Memorial University, Mount Allison University, University of New Brunswick, Dalhousie University and the host of University of Prince Edward Island.

The Dalhousie Tigers men's squad, ranked third in CIS, have won 11 men's conference titles in a row and once again enter this year's meet as the favourites to repeat.

On the women's side, CIS No. 10 ranked Tigers are also strong, having captured the last eight AUS championship banners and 16 of the past 19.

"This is a great opportunity for the UPEI Swim Panthers to compete against the top swimmers in the CIS, in their own pool," says Panthers head coach, William Calhoun,   "This will also be a great chance for young aspiring Island swimmers to see the top swimmers in the CIS swim here in PEI."

The top AUS athletes will be looking to qualify for the CIS Championships, hosted in Toronto in two weeks, and this weekend will be a perfect opportunity as the CARI centre played host to the Canada Games this past summer and is considered to be a very fast pool.

The heats will take place each of the three days at 10am and 6pm.

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