Spring Break
SWIMMING: Records shattered at ECAC Championships
by Ian Cutler
Sports Editor
Sports | 3/3/09
Posted online at 3:06 AM EST on 3/3/09
The women's swimming and diving team's relay foursome of Angela Chui '12, Hollis Viray '10, Siobhan Lyons '10 and Julia Derk '12 held four out of five school records in relay events coming into the final day at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships at Harvard University last Sunday. The only mark left to break was the 400-yard freestyle relay school record. It was only a matter of time until that record fell, too.
While the relay squad took only 11th place of 15 teams in the preliminary round, it conquered the school record in the 400-yard freestyle event with a time of 3 minutes, 41.28 seconds, beating the old mark of 3:42.78 which was set Feb. 23, 2003.
"We knew coming in that we had to drop a certain amount of time [to break the record] and that was a goal we set for ourselves," Viray said. "It's cool to know we're the fastest team to ever race at Brandeis."
The women's team took 13th place out of 26 teams with 90 points, the best among Division III schools at the meet. The men's team was 16th of 23 teams with 66 points. The U.S. Naval Academy won the Championships on the men's side with 703.5 points while host school Harvard University was the best women's team with 494 points.
The ECAC Championships conclude a tumultuous season for the Judges after the closing of the Linsey pool in October. The Judges practiced at Regis College and Bentley College this year. The program will remain for one more season but will be suspended thereafter.
"I think the reason we were so good this year is because we pushed ourselves so hard," Marc Eder '12 said. "Without a pool we had a tough challenge and came out of it really well. I don't think any other teams in the [University Athletic Association] had to make the sacrifices we've had to for this season."
Chui, Viray and Eder may continue their seasons because they reached NCAA B cut qualifying times, making them eligible to be selected to the NCAA Division III Championships in Minneapolis starting March 18. The NCAA will select the top 18 swimmers for each event.
While the relay squad took only 11th place of 15 teams in the preliminary round, it conquered the school record in the 400-yard freestyle event with a time of 3 minutes, 41.28 seconds, beating the old mark of 3:42.78 which was set Feb. 23, 2003.
"We knew coming in that we had to drop a certain amount of time [to break the record] and that was a goal we set for ourselves," Viray said. "It's cool to know we're the fastest team to ever race at Brandeis."
The women's team took 13th place out of 26 teams with 90 points, the best among Division III schools at the meet. The men's team was 16th of 23 teams with 66 points. The U.S. Naval Academy won the Championships on the men's side with 703.5 points while host school Harvard University was the best women's team with 494 points.
The ECAC Championships conclude a tumultuous season for the Judges after the closing of the Linsey pool in October. The Judges practiced at Regis College and Bentley College this year. The program will remain for one more season but will be suspended thereafter.
"I think the reason we were so good this year is because we pushed ourselves so hard," Marc Eder '12 said. "Without a pool we had a tough challenge and came out of it really well. I don't think any other teams in the [University Athletic Association] had to make the sacrifices we've had to for this season."
Chui, Viray and Eder may continue their seasons because they reached NCAA B cut qualifying times, making them eligible to be selected to the NCAA Division III Championships in Minneapolis starting March 18. The NCAA will select the top 18 swimmers for each event.
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