Broken record

Dalhousie University shares in the pride of a nation as Bermudian swimmer, Kiera Aitken, made history at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. Aitken swam a sub-30-second race for the first time and broke her own national record twice en route to Bermuda's first-ever appearance by a female swimmer in a Commonwealth final; all in her specialty event, the 50-metre backstroke. Bermuda's national team is participating at the Games under the direction of national team coach and Dalhousie's head swim coach, David Fry.

Aitken recorded 29.99 seconds for her semifinal swim where she placed third in her heat and qualified for the event final. Citing a personal best as her goal for the Games, Aitken called her semifinal showing "the swim of her life." Moving on to final, Aitken ousted former 200-metre backstroke world champion, Katy Sexton, of England to finish seventh.

Aitken's international experience includes the 2004 Athens Games where she finished 31st in the 100-metre backstroke and the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester where her top finish was 14th in the 50-metre backstroke. At last July's FINA World Championships in MontrŽal, her best result was 31st in the 50-metre backstroke. As a Dalhousie student-athlete, Aitken collected six gold medals at the Atlantic conference championship en route to a silver medal at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national championship in her specialty event.