ATLANTA, Ga.- Carson-Newman swim left Georgia Tech with fast swims and spots on the podium.
"It was a fantastic day of racing," head swim coach Ben Young said. "It's always humbling to race Division I teams and see the amount of professionalism they approach every meet with. That is something we continue to strive for within our own program. We want to continue to challenge our team to witness and see what other teams are doing at that level".
Carson-Newman swim opened the meet with fourth-place finishes in the 400-yard medley relays. Kyla Blakemore, Breanna Belcher, Chrisman Rand, and Kennadi King finished the women's 400 medley relay in 3:46.83. For the men, Tyler Schehr, Asger Hartvig, Daniel de Oliveira, and Daniel Ribeiro contributed to a final time of 3:22.35.
In the women's 1,000-yard freestyle, Makayla Young placed fifth in 10:27.84. Young placed third in the women's 400-yard IM in 4:39.94. Lillian Hilt followed shortly behind with a fourth-place finish in 4:42.83. Benaiah McDowell placed second in the men's 400 IM in 4:16.50, and Jed Little finished third in 4:35.29.
"Makayla swam lights out in her races today," Young said. "She was just off her season best and swam 30 seconds faster in the 1,000 than last year at this time. It was great to see her progress".
De Oliveira grabbed a fifth-place finish in the men's 200-yard freestyle. He finished the race in 1:40.59. De Oliveira continued to impress with a 1:51.80 finals time in the 200 back for a fourth-place finish.
"Daniel swam really great in his 200 free and 200 back today," Young said. "For someone like him, that closing speed will be there at conference when he rests. Even without that rest today, he hung on well. He is in a really good spot".
Sarah Covington finished sixth in the 100-yard backstroke in 57.05, and Ribeiro grabbed bronze in the event for the men in 49.71.
Belcher made a mark in the women's 100 breast with a sixth-place finish. She swam the event in 1:04.28. For the men, Hartvig finished third in the event in 59.22.
In the 50-yard freestyle, King placed eighth in 23.96. Hayden Wright finished in sixth for the men in 21.92. King continued to impress with a seventh-place finish in the women's 100-yard freestyle. She finished the race in 52.02. On the men's side of competition, Ribeiro finished sixth (45.96) and Ethan Lawless grabbed seventh (53.86).
"I loved Kennadi's 50 free," Young said. "She was under 24 seconds for the first time all year. For a lot of our swimmers, the best is right around the corner. It's a testament to the work they put in and where we are as a program".
Antonia Sanint placed fifth in the women's 200-yard breaststroke in 2:20.59. Hartvig finished fifth for the men in 2:09.42. McDowell placed sixth in the event in 2:15.06.
"Our men's side was fairly depleted because of sickness this weekend," Young said. "To see them step up and come out with strong swims was really impressive. We had Benaiah step up into some swims. Tyler stepped into the relays, and Asger hopped into the 200 relay, which is something he never thought he would see. It really is a testament to what they are willing to do for their team and teammates".
C-N wrapped up the evening with the 200-yard freestyle relay. The women finished third in the event in 1:35.24. Lily Parr competed in the event with teammates Rand, King, and Sanint. The men grabbed silver in the relay in 1:24.95. Ribeiro, de Oliveira, Schehr, and Hartvig contributed to the event.
"Overall, it was a great weekend. We had some solid racing, and it was good to see everyone working hard even without feeling rested. Our hope is that we will continue on this path and get some good rest before we head to conference in a few weeks," Young said.
Carson-Newman swim will be back in action Wednesday, Feb. 14 at the 2024 South Atlantic Conference Championships. Stay up to date on cneagles.com.
