SALISBURY, Md. – Freshman Okan Eyigor set a new pool record, as the Salisbury University men's and women's swimming teams fell to Catholic University of America on Saturday afternoon, with scores of 121.5-83.5 and 137-68, respectively.
Men
Eyigor, in just his third collegiate meet, has broken his first record. In the 100-meter backstroke, the Istanbul, Turkey native came out gunning, grabbing first place by a solid three seconds. With the victory, he broke the pool record set back in 1998 by former swimmer Chris Bembenek with an incredible time of 59.45. The freshman finished the day with two first-place finishes, his other in the 200 freestyle (2:01.85), and second place in the 800 freestyle relay (8:23.23) to collect 22 points for the day.
Racing with Eyigor in the 800 freestyle relay were freshman Scott Schirmer, senior James Gough, and sophomore Will Gough. With a tough start to the final race of the day, the Sea Gulls (1-2, 1-0 CAC) found themselves closing in on the Cardinals in lane three. With the Gough brothers taking the middle laps, the Gulls were able to pull within a body length of the lead with Eyigor to close out the final four laps. The freshman pulled within an arm reach of first during his leg, but fell under six seconds short for second place.
James Gough added a top finish in the 400 freestyle with a time of 4:28.61, completing the race 14 seconds ahead of Catholic's second-place finisher.
Women
The women started the day off in an exciting 400 medley relay. Sophomore Kathryn Adams took the initial laps, coming up a few seconds behind first place in the backstroke. Freshmen Victoria Radcliffe and Layne Gable swam the middle laps of breaststroke and butterfly, respectively, pulling it back to even going into the final two laps of the freestyle. Sophomore Andria Moyer raced side-by-side the leading Cardinals in the next lane, but fell just short with a time of 4:57.07.
Radcliffe added another second place along with a top finish in her three events today. She claimed top honors in the 100 breaststroke (1:20.08), while recording a time of 2:15.21 in the 200 freestyle to take second.
Sophomore Nicki Schult led the women's squad today, finishing with two first-place finishes in the 200 IM (2:37.80) and the 400 freestyle (4:54.18), and recording 18 points in the victories.
The swimming teams head on the road for their next four meets, as they head to Washington (Md.) College on Wednesday, Nov. 6, to matchup against the Shoremen. The contest is set to begin at 6 p.m.
