ATHENS, Ga. – Carson-Newman swimming sees a day in Athens, Georgia be a success for a trio of athletes. Senior CJ Jensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) set the new school record in the women's 200-yard backstroke with her time of 2:01.71. This broke the seven-year-old record set by Amanda Henderson.
Freshman Nicolas Lenuza (Spain) swam the second fastest time in the men's 100-yard butterfly which now places him as 14th fastest in the nation for the event. Finally, Nikita Puzevich (Belarus) saw under 20.0 for the first time in his career and fourth fastest for Eagles history in the 50-yard freestyle.
"Great day of racing and everyone is swimming well," head coach Jordan Taylor said. He is impressed with his athletes competing and is looking forward to tomorrow's action with the Eagles in action.
In the men's 100-yard breaststroke, freshman Thanos Diamantidis (Greece) saw a 55.33 finish fall in his favor and him taking the event win over athletes from Georgia and fellow Eagle Joey Clemmer (Murfreesboro, Tenn.).
After the first day of action, Carson-Newman sits at fourth place among all teams with 35 total points. They sit behind Division I opposition in Florida State, Georgia, and Florida heading into the final day of competition tomorrow in Athens, Ga.
Junior Matthew George (Manchester, England) was the lone competitor in the men's 500-yard freestyle and finished in 4:29.75. This now places him in the fourth fastest time in program history for this event, with George holding three of the top five times for the event.
Freshman Chase Rayment (South Africa) was able to swim his way to a 49.39 time in the men's 100-yard butterfly, good enough for a top-five event finish in prelims.
Freshman Chrisman Rand (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) came in the top-eight for women's 50-yard freestyle with her 23.82 time. She competed alongside athletes from Florida, Florida State, Florida Gulf Coast, and Northern Colorado. Freshman Debora Xavier was the top finisher in the event's 'B' final, finishing in 24.60.
Junior Brandon Meier (Greenville, S.C.) was a top-three finisher alongside Puzevich for the men's 50-yard freestyle. Meier finished in 20.54 which placed him alongside his Eagles teammate and an athlete from the University of Georgia.
The Eagles will put the 12 Eagles into action again tomorrow morning from Athens, Georgia as the Bulldog Last Chance Invitational wraps up. After this meet, Carson-Newman will look to push forward to Division II Nationals in Birmingham, Ala.
Be sure to follow all things Carson-Newman swimming via cneagles.com and all social media accounts
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