The Virginia Wesleyan University Swimming team completed their first season of competition this past weekend at the ODAC Championships in Greensboro, NC. The men finished in 9th place accumulating 119.0 points while the women finished in 10th place with a team total of 86.0 points. Individual highlights include many new school records being set for both the men and the women. Freshman Kristian Rinkus capped off his stellar season by finishing the 100-yard freestyle in 50.59. Sophomore Kyle Woolf also set a personal best along with a school recording finishing the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:43.71. Fellow sophomore Patrick McKneely showed off his improvement by setting a school record in the 1650-yard race in 21:59.19. The men’s 400-yard freestyle relay team consisting of Woolf, Rinkus, Wade Jernigan, and Stephen Carlo broke the school record by finishing the race in 3:44.20.
The women joined the record breaking party in numerous events, starting with Hayley Heath in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:03.42. Heath along with teammates Amanda Waller, Morgan Lucas, and Ashley Whipple put forth a tremendous effort in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a school record of 4:29.90. Alex Ghazaleh left her mark on the swimming program as she set a school record in one of her last races as a Marlin in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:57.93. Waller also placed herself at the top 200-yard breaststroke record book finishing with a time of 3:00.46. 24:04.88 is the new time at the top of the record book in the 1650-yard freestyle. The Marlins will look to build off a strong first season of competition under Coach Mike Ginder and build a successful program in the near future.
Luke Chiasson
lachiasson@vwu.edu
