Out of the Pool: Swim Competition Ends

By Connect2Mason Reporter Alex Rogge

The Mason Swimming and Diving team performed strongly during the preliminary stages of competition during the fourth day of the 2009 CAA Swimming and Diving Championship. It started with the Women 200 Backstroke, during which Sophia Graesser placed second with a time of 2:08.43 and Nicole Harmon placed fifth in her heat with a time of 2:04.86. In the Men 200 Backstroke, Ryan David placed fourth in his heat and ninth overall with a time of 1:52.74. Nico Baudoin also placed fourth in the next heat and twelfth overall with a time of 1:53.17.

In the Women 100 Freestyle, Brittany Cochrane, Millie Wannamaker, and Brittany Vocke placed fourth, second, and third in their respective heats. Claire Weems placed fourth in her heat and thirteenth overall with a time of 52.06, and Mary Beth Cheslock placed third overall with her time of 50.67.

In the Men 100 Freestyle, Hans Johnsen placed second with a time of 47.73. Then in the next heat, Tad Ogren placed fourth with his time of 46.44, followed closely by Spencer Roe in sixth place and Zac Hamlin in seventh.

In the Women 200 Breaststroke, Jenny Kane placed second with a time of 2:23.50, and Audrey Olszewski took first place in her heat and ninth overall with her time of 2:20.61. Then in the next heat, Ashley Danner put herself at the top of the scoreboard in first place overall, with a time of 2:12.28, which earned her a CAA Meet Record award.

In the Men 100 Breaststroke, Damian Rodino placed fourth in his heat and tenth overall with a time of 2:05.83.

In the Women 200 Butterfly, Michelle Lozach placed second with a time of 2:08.82. In the next heat, Audrey Olszewski placed fourth with a time of 2:06.55. Then Caitlin Impink placed third in her heat and seventh overall, with a time of 2:03.84.

In the Men 200 Butterfly, Steven Benecki placed fourth in his heat and eighth overall with a time of 1:52.10.

In the Men 1650 Freestyle, Nico Baudoin placed third with a time of 16:04.63, followed in fifth place by Brad Erickson and his time of 16:10.34.

In the Men 3-mtr Diving prelims, Ryan Metzker, Bryan Bahr, and Derrick Butts scored consistently high and were selected for the finals. Bryan Bahr consistently demonstrated a superb delivery technique, ending the six preliminary rounds with a score of 358.25.

The finals started with the Men 1650 Freestyle, in which Preston Wolter finished in first place with a time of 15:08.80.

In the Women 200 Backstroke , Nicole Harmon placed sixth with a time of 2:03.91. Nico Baudoin placed fifth with his time of 1:54.26 in the Men 200 Backstroke.

Mary Beth Cheslock placed third with a time of 50.08 in the Women 100 Freestyle, and Audrey Olszewski placed third with a time of 2:21.15 in the Women 200 Breaststroke.

Then, Ashley Danner entered the pool to set another record in the Women 200 Breaststroke. She finished with a time of 2:10.21 to take first place overall, and put her closest competitors behind by four seconds and more. This earned her a CAA Top Performance Record award and another CAA Meet Record award. Damian Rodino rounded out the 200 Breaststroke by finishing first in his heat with a time of 2:05.26.

In the Men 3-mtr Diving finals, Ryan Metzker finished in eighth place with a score of 281.90. Derrick Butts placed fourth with a score of 346.90. Following in the tracks of his earlier performance, Bryan Bahr came in first place with a score of 376.00.

The Championship concluded with the 400 Free Relay. A team of Mary Beth Cheslock, Claire Weems, Courtney Cook, and Caitlin Impink finished in fourth place with a time of 3:25.43. A team of Tad Ogren, Spencer Roe, Ryan David, and Preston Wolter finished seventh in their heat with a time of 3:04.44.

The final combined scores placed Mason Men in fifth place with a score of 456.5 points, trailing William&Mary at 466.0 points. UNCW Men won the competition with 721.0 points. Mason Women finished in fourth place with a score of 468.0 points, trailing UNCW in third place at 476.5 points. Towson Women won the competition with 741.0 points.

The final scores for the men:

North Carolina Wilmington - 721.0
Old Dominion - 589.0
Delaware - 491.0
William&Mary - 466.0
George Mason - 456.5
Drexel - 368.0
Towson - 279.5

The final scores for the women:

Towson - 741.0
William&Mary - 526.0
North Carolina Wilmington - 476.5
George Mason - 468.0
James Madison - 389.0
Delaware - 331.0
Old Dominion - 309.5
Northeastern - 224.0
Drexel - 130.0

Kate Hynes from Drexel and Bryan Bahr received the Most Outstanding Diver awards. Ashley Danner and Preston Wolter received the Most Outstanding Swimmer awards. All of the Mason award-recipients were from the freshman class, and these recipients represented the athletes who displayed the most outstanding performances consistently throughout the duration of the 2009 Championship.