Sophomore Austin Witherow cruises to victory in the 100-yard butterfly Photo by: Stephen Kline
Saturday marked the final day of the CAA Swimming Championships here at the Jim McKay Natatorium. Despite a strong showing from both the men’s and women’s teams, they received second and sixth place respectively. The University of North Carolina Wilmington claimed first place for the men and Towson University took it for the women.
“We prepared all year for the [CAA] Championship,” said head coach Peter Ward. “It is really the most important meet in the year for us.”
Although swimming is very much a team sport, a few strong individual performances shone through during the meet. Sophomore Austin Witherow dominated both the men’s 100-yard butterfly event, winning by almost a 10th of a second, and the 100 yard backstroke, winning it by a full second.
For the women, junior Ashley Danner won the 100-yard breaststroke by half a second with at time of 59.06, setting a new record for the CAA Championship. Danner was also a leg of the George Mason 800-yard freestyle relay team that came in third.
Other stellar performances came from a first-second place finish by junior Preston Wolter and freshman Fernando Rubio in the 400-yard IM. Junior Bryan Bahr put together an impressive string of dives to win the 3-meter diving competition.
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