DALLAS – Houston leads the women’s standings, while Cincinnati holds the advantage on the men’s side after Day 3 of the 2018 American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships at Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium in Dallas.
The Cougars compiled 572 points to create separation in the women’s standings. Cincinnati trails in second with 421, followed by SMU (367), ECU (355), UConn (278) and Tulane (273). The Bearcats lead the four-team men’s field with 598. ECU sits in second (539)m followed by SMU (456) and UConn (419).
Houston swept the podium in the 200-yard women’s freestyle. Zarena Brown posted the third fastest time in school history to lead the heat and reset the pool-record with a time of 1:45.78. Teammates Ksenia Yuskova (1:47.71) and Mykenzie Leehy (1:47.85) finished second and third, respectively. In the men’s race, Cincinnati also took the top three spots in the event. Freshman Johannes Kabelka (1:36.83) paved the way, while Din Selmanovic (1:36.85) and Justin Crew (1:37.49) took silver and bronze, respectively.
After finishing runner-up a year ago, Erin Trahan of SMU took first-place in the 100-yard butterfly. Trahan posted a pool-record 52.79 in the preliminaries to enter the finals as the event favorite. The sophomore touched the wall two-plus seconds faster than the next finisher with a time of 52.28. Gustavo Santos captured the gold on the men’s side for the second consecutive year with a pool and meet-record time of 46.82.
SMU’s Jonathan Gomez reset his own pool record with a first-place finish of 3:50.18 in the men’s 400-yard individual medley. In the women’s race, defending champion Matea Samardzic of SMU covered the distance in 4:09.75 to secure the win. Tulane’s Olivia Johnson and Houston’s Eleanna Koutsouveli each posted program-best times and followed in second and third, respectively.
For the first time in four years the women’s 400-yard medley relay event went to the Cougars. The team of Laura Laderoute, Peyton Kondis, Victoria Tillman and Zarena Brown earned 40 points for Houston with a program-record time of 3:35.48. On the men’s side, UConn touched the wall first, but upon official video review of the third leg’s take-off was disqualified. As a result, ECU’s team of Tristan Taylor, Jacek Arentewicz, Gustavo Santos and Victor Martins Dos Santos edged out SMU for the gold with a winning time of 3:14.19.
In the 100-yard breaststroke, Jacek Arentewicz bested the finals heat with a time of 53.78, resetting his own pool record. Cincinnati’s Dominic Polling (53.90) and Zachary Hostoffer (53.98) followed for a silver and bronze finish. Houston’s Peyton Kondis earned a come-from-behind win to clinch her second straight title in the event with a pool-record time of 59.73. Andrea Podmanikova of SMU (59.95) finished second, while Kondis’ teammate Angeliki Mavrantza took the third top spot (1:01.40).
Matea Samardzic of SMU (52.75) out touched Houston’s Laura Laderoute (53.52) to take the top spot on the podium in the women’s 100-yard backstroke. The men’s race went to William Kearsey with a winning time of 48.01. Ralph Koo came in second, followed by teammate Earl Kilbride.
SMU’s Bryce Klein and Cincinnati’s Daniel Kinney earned gold and silver on the 3-meter springboard. Klein repeated for the third straight year with a score of 370.90, while Kinney finished with a score of 314.50.
The final day of the 2018 American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships begins with preliminary swimming events at 10:00 am CT, followed by men’s and women’s platform diving at 1:00 pm CT. The finals are scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm CT and you can watch it live on the American Digital Network. The senior recognition ceremony will take place at approximately 5:35 pm CT, prior to the start of the finals.
For complete coverage of the American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships, visit The American’s Championship Central at
www.theamerican.org/swimdive and follow @American_Swim on Twitter.
2018 American Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championships
Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium
Women’s Scores (14 of 21 events)
| TEAMS |
SCORES |
| Houston |
572 |
| Cincinnati |
421 |
| SMU |
357 |
| ECU |
355 |
| UConn |
278 |
| Tulane |
273 |
Men’s Scores (14 of 21 events)
| TEAMS |
SCORES |
| Cincinnati |
598 |
| ECU |
539 |
| SMU |
456 |
| UConn |
419 |
Saturday, Feb. 17
SESSION 6 - 10:00 am CT (Swimming Prelims); 1:00 pm CT (Diving Prelims)
SESSION 7 - 6:00 pm CT (Finals)
| Event 30 |
Women's Platform Diving (Preliminaries) |
| Event 29 |
Men's Platform Diving (Preliminaries) |
| Event 31 |
Women's 1,650 Yard Freestyle |
| Event 32 |
Men's 1,650 Yard Freestyle |
| Event 30 |
Women's Platform Diving (Final) |
| Event 33 |
Women's 200 Yard Backstroke |
| Event 34 |
Men's 200 Yard Backstroke |
| Event 35 |
Women's 100 Yard Freestyle |
| Event 36 |
Men's 100 Yard Freestyle |
| Event 37 |
Women's 200 Yard Breaststroke |
| Event 38 |
Men's 200 Yard Breaststroke |
| Event 39 |
Women's 200 Yard Butterfly |
| Event 40 |
Men's 200 Yard Butterfly |
| Event 29 |
Men's Platform Diving (Final) |
| Event 41 |
Women's 400 Yard Freestyle Relay |
| Event 42 |
Men's 400 Yard Freestyle Relay |
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