Despite basically racing against themselves, the Seattle University men's swim team posted some impressive results during an intrasquad competition Saturday afternoon at the Connolly Center Pool.
"I am excited to see the guys swimming as fast this early in the season as they were last season right before tapering for the conference meet. To see a pool record as well as a couple of times entering our all-time top ten lists was exciting to watch. Everyone had good swims today," head coach Craig Nisgor said.
In their first race of the season, the quartet of Keith Andrews (Hillsboro, Ore.), Chris Lynch (Melbourne, Australia), Murray Longbotham (Mercer Island, Wash.), and Jordan Anderson (Newberg, Ore.) set a pool record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:33.83. Anderson, Tyler Carriker (Everett, Wash.), Longbotham, and Andrews were victorious in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:10.48.
Individually, Longbotham finished on top twice during the day, winning the 200 freestyle in 1:43.24 and the 500 freestyle in 4:44.80. Anderson also picked up two individual victories, touching the wall first in the 50 freestyle in 20.92 seconds and in the 100 freestyle in 46.42 seconds.
Joe Wertz (Richland, Wash.) was another member of the two-victory club during the meet, winning the 100 backstroke in 52.50 seconds and the 200 backstroke in 1:55.70. James Gilmore (Eugene, Ore.) earned two victories in the event, finishing first in the 200 breaststroke (2:08.18) and in the 200 individual medley (1:56.41).
Lynch finished first in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 58.56 seconds, Ali Abadi (Edmonds, Wash.) was first in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:56.93, and Tomas Mendez-Beck (Hillsboro, Ore.) touched the wall first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.02 seconds. Eric Pedack (Snohomish, Wash.) was just 3/100ths of a second behind Abadi in the 200 butterfly and half-a-second behind Mendez-Beck in the 100 butterfly.
The Seattle University men's swim team will see outside competition in two weeks when it travels to Stockton, Calif., for back-to-back meets hosted by Pacific Friday, Nov. 4, and Saturday, Nov. 5. Cal State Bakersfield and Air Force will join the meet on Nov. 5.