Women's Swimming In Third After Day 1 Of SMU Classic

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Mustangs Third After Night One Of SMU Classic
Arcila, Nicol and Nicholas Win Races, Nicol Sets Meet Record

Oct. 17, 2014

LEWISVILLE, Texas (SMU) – The SMU women’s swimming and diving team sits in third place out of six teams with 143 points after night one of the 21st annual SMU Classic at the Westside Natatorium. The Mustangs had three individuals record first-place finishes including seniors Isabella Arcila and Rachel Nicol and sophomore Tara-Lynn Nicholas.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Head Coach Steve Collins said. “Obviously we’d love to be in first place, but coming into the meet we were the team that was seeded fifth. We’re definitely on the right track and showing that we’ve got a strong team to be able to compete with some of the best teams in the nation.”

Each team is represented by nine student-athletes with the institution entering one swimmer in each heat of every event. All teams also enter one relay team for each event, and one diver will compete in the one- and three-meter events.

Nicol’s time of 1:00.18 in the 100-yard breaststroke was one of four Classic records broke on night one. The Lethbridge, Alberta, native broke USC’S Kasey Carlson’s record of 1:00.20 that was set in 2012. In the consolation final of the event Nicholas, who was a 2014 All-American in the event, posted a 1:01.46 for the victory.

“Those two will battle all through the season and they’re going to give teams fits because they are two really exceptional swimmers. For Rachel to break the meet record set by one of the greatest NCAA swimmers of all time is just amazing.

“Tara was awesome. She had a great split in the medley relay and then her 100 breaststroke was fantastic. Going 1:01 at this point right off the bat is great. She’s way ahead of schedule.”
In the fourth event of the night, Arcila posted a 22.56, just .03 seconds shy of a meet record,, for the win in the 50-yard freestyle.

“It was an amazing time for this point of the season in our first big meet and I was really happy with that,” Collins said.

Arcila was also third in the 100-yard backstroke championship final with a time of 53.84.

The meet kicked off with the closest finish of the night, as LSU and SMU finished first and second in the 400-yard medley relay, separated by just .01 with both teams coming in under the meet record time of 3:38.26 set by USC in 2012. Arcila, Nicholas, sophomore Marne Erasmus and freshman Adrienn Santa touched the wall in 3:35.87.

“We had an interesting situation with the schedule and we put that relay up there and they just exceeded my expectations,” Collins said. “To have those four go the fastest time we’ve ever done at this point of the season, and the fastest time of any team at this meet except for the team that touched us out is just a great showing of what type of group we have.

“Right off the bat Marne had an awesome split in the 400 medley relay, and Adrienn’s time of 49 on the end of that relay, I was super excited.”

Senior Nathalie Lindborg posted a runner-up finish in the consolation final of the 200-yard freestyle at 1:48.11, Erasmus was third in the championship final of the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 53.25 and sophomore Kirsty McLauchlan was also third in the 400-yard individual medley at 4:18.52.

In one-meter diving, freshman Madeline Wainman recorded a sixth-place finish.

“I thought Madeline did an excellent job to overcome injury. I know that she was in pain and she stepped up and competed and I’m just so proud of her,” Collins added.

LSU leads the event with 160 points, just ahead of former American Athletic Conference foe Louisville who has 152.50 points. USC (130), N.C. State (119.50) and Miami (111) round out the group. The Classic concludes on Saturday evening starting at 6:30 p.m. CT with live results available here and on the Meet Mobile application.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Sounds like a nice first day for SMU. Good luck tonight!

Go Mustangs!

[horsemanx]

SMU finished third.

http://www.smumustangs.com/sports/w-swim/recaps/101814aab.html

1 - LSU 319
2 - Louisville 301.5
3 - SMU 296
4 - USC 283
5 - NC State 235.5
6 - Miami 218