LONG BEACH – The UCSB swim teams participated in the third day of the Big West Championships at Bellmont Plaza and yet again, dominated. Currently, UCSB’s women’s swim team sits in first place by a margin of 47 with 601 points. The men’s team is in second place by a ten-point margin behind UC Davis with 615 points.
The highlight of the day was sophomore Tim Freeman’s incredible feat of breaking a 20 year old record previously held by Brian Pajer of UC Irvine in 1990 in the 100 breaststroke. The previous time was 54.26 and Freeman touched the wall at a 53.90, shattering the record. Freeman’s time qualifies him for a NCAA “A” cut standard.
The rest of the meet was all UCSB.
The 400 individual medley was the first event of the day and senior, Jessica Schwalb for the women’s team stomped on the competition coming in first with a time of 4:17.54, beating the second place finisher by three seconds. Schwalb’s time qualified for the NCAA “B” qualifying standard. The next Gaucho to come in was Kelsey Lewis, in fifth, with a time of 4:25.91. Coming in seventh was junior, Brittany Borowitz with a time of 4:31.74. The last Gaucho to touch the wall at tenth was Mariana Prutton with a time of 4:29.44.
The men’s team fared just as well with Evan Simoni finishing first for the Gauchos and placing third overall with a time of 3:57.19. Ryan Garcia touched fourth with a personal best time of 3:58.02. Next for UCSB was junior, Shane Hurter touching seventh with a time of 4:02.45.
It was a close finish in the 100 butterfly for the women with senior Naomi Javanifard getting out-touched by Northridge’s Yuli Gavrilova. Javanifard finished second with a time of 54.44 while Gavrilova touched at 54.25. Both women qualified for the NCAA “B” qualifying standard. Katie Ure came in fourth with a time of 55.37 and Laurel Ferguson placed sixth with a time of 56.84.
Not be outdone, the UCSB men’s team had four swimmers in the finals for the 100 butterfly. Danny McClary was the first Gaucho to touch the wall, placing second with a time of 48.22. McClary’s time qualifies for the NCAA “B” standard. Jon Kraetsch placed fourth with a time 49.17. Next was Christ Wiggin whacking the wall with a time of 49.38 and placing fifth. Max Horrell rounded out the depth for the Gauchos coming in seventh with a time of 49.59.
The Gaucho women, yet again, dominated another event having five of the eight swimmers in the final heat for the 200 freestyle. Katie Stover touched second with a time of 1:49.26. Right after her was Courtney Bauer touching third with a time of 1:51.20. Katie Tomkinson placed fifth with a time of 1:54.29. Next was freshman Emma Hunt touching with a personal best time of 1:52.54. Last but certainly was not least was Olivia Plume placing eighth with a time of 1:52.77.
The Gaucho men were just as dominant having, like the women, five of the eight swimmers in the finals for the 200 freestyle event. Scott Vogelgesang placed first with a quick time of 1:37.57 qualifying him for a NCAA “B” standard. Ryan Hanni was next placing fourth with a time of 1:38.77. Dan Morris touched fifth with a time of 1:39.60; in sixth was Joe Plume with a time of 1:40.32; and seventh was Kevin Kuhn with a time of 1:41.35.
Freshman Emily Adamczyk was the lone swimmer for the Gauchos in the 100 breaststroke finals, finishing third with a quick time of 1:04.12.
Freeman was the lone swimmer for UCSB in the 100 breastroke finals but as mentioned above, dominated by shattering a 20 year old record. Travis Jepson and Walt Gault finished ninth and 13th in the consols with time of 57.07 and 57.60.
In the 100 backstroke Javanifard received another second place finish with a time of 55.33 qualifying for the NCAA “B” cut standard. Sasza Lohrey placed fifth in the finals with a time of 57.25. Kendall Neely finished ninth in the consols with a personal best time of 57.34.
In the 100 backstroke for the men, Kevin Ferguson placed first overall with a time of 48.68, qualifying for a NCAA “B” standard. Freshman Brandon Shilling placed sixth with a time of 51.31 followed by Max Horrell, who placed seventh with a time of 52.22.
Chris Peterson placed ninth in the 100 backstroke consols with a time of 51.36.
The men’s and women’s swim teams finished the day off on a high note with two first place finishes in the 200 freestyle relay. The women’s “A” team of Neely, Javanifard, Lohrey, and Stover touched first with a time of 1:32.31, qualifying for a NCAA “B” standard cut. The men’s “A” team of Kuhn, Peterson, Hanni and Ferguson came in first with a fast time of 1:19.71. Their time qualifies for a NCAA “B” cut standard.
The final day of the Big West Championships continues tomorrow.
