Courtesy of GoBearcats.com
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The University of Cincinnati swimming and diving team sent eight student-athletes to Lawrence, Kansas, to participate in the inaugural College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) National Collegiate Open Water Championships on Sept. 17. The men’s team took first place in the event after snagging four medal positions while the women finished third with one medalist. The team times were determined by adding the top three individual times from each school.
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The Bearcats placed four of the top seven finishers in the 5k Open Water race, led by junior Chris Bready (Missouri City, Texas/Lawrence E. Elkins) who was third overall with a time of 1:01:42.76. Freshman Din Selmanovic (Mississauga, Ontario/Cawthra) finished one place behind Bready at 1:03:26.01 while freshman Tyler Jones (Walla Walla, Wash./Walla Walla) was sixth at 1:04:20.07 and sophomore Justin Crew (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) rounded out the top-7 at 1:04:21.74. Cincinnati took the top team spot with a time of 3:09.29, more than three seconds ahead of second-place Carson-Newman.
The women’s team placed third in the inaugural event with a team time of 3:25:23.75. All four Bearcats finished in the top-15, led by freshman Rocky Laabs (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) who was seventh with a time of 1:07:20.62. Junior Sara Wanasak (Burlington, Wis./Burlington) took a 10th place finish with a time of 1:08:51.47 while freshman Laura Johnston (Mississauga, Ontario/Michael Power St. Joseph) was 13th at 1:09:11.70 and sophomore Carolina Sheehan (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) was 15th at 1:09:59.91.