Salisbury University's swim team broke 17 records over four days at the Metropolitan Collegiate Swimming and Diving Championship (METS) in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Starting strong Feb. 16, the women’s 800-yard relay took down SU's 12-year record by 10 seconds, carried by swimmers Leah Gude, Alexa Hilty, Grace Wienckowski and Kara Graybill.
The Sea Gulls broke two individual records and three medley records on day two. Dominic Kazzi broke the 200 IM record and Lily Golden broke the 50 free record. The women’s 200 free relay, men’s 200 free and men’s 400 medley teams each broke program records.
Day three saw individually-set records by Anna Jayback in the 50 fly and Sierra Wakefield in the 100 fly. The team of Samantha Watson, Sierra Wakefield, Morgan Adams and Lily Golden broke the 200 medley relay record.
Kazzi broke records in the 50 and 100 breaststroke, and set a new record in the 200 medley with his relay team – Dominic Ancey, Chris Knorr and Michael DeSimone.
The last day of the METS, Knorr and Jordan DeGrunchy each broke their own 200 fly records that were set last season. Gude broke 1000 free program record and her 1650 free program record from earlier this season. Golden, Jayback, Hilty and Graybill broke the program record from 2017, capping the team's broken records at 17.
Head Coach Nate Parsley attributes the success to “recruiting at a higher level,” with the rookie class being responsible for 80-90% of records.
“The big focus this year was driving team outcomes and breaking program records for most dual meets,” he said.
By HAILEY DEARES
Sports Editor
Featured image courtesy of @suseagulls.