On a day that celebrated the seniors as well as the completion of a successful yet unusual season, the University of Redlands swimming & diving teams put on an impressive display at the Thompson Aquatic Center on Saturday. Overall, the Bulldogs broke five pool records, while seniors Rafael Zasas (Johannesburg, South Africa), Jack McCormick (Santa Rosa, CA), Eric Forbes (Orange County, CA), and Olivia Cano (Dublin, CA) finished among the top three in multiple events.
In terms of scoring, the Bulldog women prevailed over Chapman University (185) and Cal Lutheran University (94) with 229 points, while the Redlands men finished second with 157 points, trailing Cal Lutheran (208) but pushing past Chapman (95).
Junior Tom Jansen (Pleasant Hill, CA) initiated the pool-record-breaking day with his winning effort in the 1000 Free that came off a time of 9:44.72. Sophomore Blake Eddow (Corona, CA) kept the excitement rolling with a new pool record in the 200 Free by clocking a first-place time of 1:42.76, which bettered the previous mark from 2011. Two events later, first-year Madison Petschauer (Cary, NC) posted a new pool record in the 100 Breast when she out-touched the competition in 1:05.40. She added another impressive result when she won the 100 Fly in 57:06 as the only sub-minute swimmer for a new TAC record, resetting the standard that had stood since 2011. Junior Sam Ayers (Orinda, CA) added to the accolades of the day with a new pool standard in the 100 Free, which he earned with a gold-medal time of 46.21. Finally, the men's 400 Free Relay of McCormick, Eddow, Ayers, and Zasas uncorked a time of 3:05.07 to not only win the final race of the meet but to better the pool record by more than two seconds.
In addition, the women's 200 Medley Relay of junior Courtney Prefontaine (San Clemente, CA), junior Madison Southmayd (Anthem, AZ), first-year Sarah Szafranski (Houston, TX), and junior Jacqueline Setlich (Laguna Niguel, CA) captured the win with a time of 1:49.85, which was just 0.3 off another new pool record. First-year Sydney Britton (Tacoma, WA), first-year Lauren Kline (Parker, CO), sophomore Leila Alejos (Portland, OR), and junior Emily Heaston (Corona, CA) joined forces for a third-place showing (1:55.97).
Furthermore, the seniors left it all out there with solid results from each of them. Zasas added a second-place time of 1:44.45 in the 200 Free. McCormick won the 50 Free in 20.86 and finished third in the 100 Fly by touching the wall in 51.70. Forbes stepped up with a second-place showing in the 100 Breast with a time of 1:00.32. Finally, Cano won the 200 Individual Medley in 2:14.32 and snagged a bronze in the 100 Breast by clocking a time of 1:07.42.
Additional highlights included sophomore Gabrielle Hayon's (Agoura Hills, CA) first-place result in the 500 Free (5:23.14) and Szafranski's wining time of 2:13.99 in the 200 Fly. Junior Sydney Nakagawa (Vancouver, WA) also won the 100 Back as the only sub-minute swimmer (59.53) to go along with a gold-medal effort in the 50 Free (24.77). Southmayd won the 200 Breast (2:28.59) and finished second in the 100 Breast (1:06.73). Beyond his pool record in the 200 Free, Eddow prevailed in the 500 Free with a time of 4:41.35.
Finally, the women's 400 Relay of Nakagawa, Southmayd, Petschauer, and Cano put together a winning performance in 3:40.63 to finish the day on a solid note.
First-year Sydney Patterson (Hilo, HI) excelled as the only competitor in the one-meter diving competition. She earned a score of 202.65.
Redlands swimming & diving finished out the modified season with plenty to celebrate but now looks forward to the 2021-22 season.