Taylor's troops look to defend title in National Open Water Championships
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman swim program opens up the year with a trip to Lawrence, Kan. for the National Open Water Championships for the third-straight season.
Video: Jordan Taylor Previews 2018-19 season
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman swim program opens up the year with a trip to Lawrence, Kan. for the National Open Water Championships for the third-straight season.
In 2017, the National Open Water Championships, which includes Division I swimmers, found the Eagles taking home the crown as the highest finish of any Division II team. The event is scheduled for Saturday morning Sept. 22 with race practice set for tomorrow.
The C-N men's side would finish the race with three swimmers inside the top-20, with Casey Charles (Mount Juliet, Tenn.) checking in at No. 12 with a time of 1:04:18.35 and Marcelo Figueiredo (Porto Alegre, Brazil) at No. 15 turning in a time of 1:04:23.06. Caleb Howell (Easley, S.C.) led all Eagle swimmers with a 10th-place finish with a time of 1:04:16.66. The Eagles held a total of 5 swimmers in the top-25 en route its top-finish out of all D2 schools.
A healthy amount of additions return to the event for the Eagles in 2018. Two other junior swimmers cracked in the top-25 in 2017 including Josh Winn who completed the race in 1:08:17.71, and Carson Knox in 1:08:40.37. Josh Terrell came in at #29 with a final time of 1:10:10.01. Then sophomore Paden Duke finished right outside the top-30 with a time of 1:10:17.45.
Regina Zipperer (Germantown, Tenn.) claimed a 17th place finish in the 2017 College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) National Collegiate Open Water Championship, finishing second overall among D2 swimmers. Zipperer completed the course in 1:08:29.77.
The race consists of a two-loop swim at Lone Star Lake that covers 3.1 miles (5K). The championship field in 2017 for the women's side consisted of 54 females coming from a diverse group of colleges and universities spanning across the entire United States, including the aforementioned schools in Division 1 including UConn, St. Louis, Richmond, George Washington, among others.
Zipperer also competed in the championships in 2016 where as a freshman she collected a 17th-place finish with a time of 1:10:25.00. Figueiredo, Jon Lancaster (Ringgold, Ga.), and Carson Knox (Plant City, Fla.) were the only other current participants who were on the roster in 2016.
Figueiredo claimed the highest finish for the Eagles that year turning in at No. 2 with a time of 1:01:07.28. Lancaster and Knox finished 17th and 18th with times of 1:07:10.03 and 1:07:30.27 respectively.
Stay up to date with this weekend's events at @CNAthletics and @CNSwim.
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