The Biola swim team made quite the splash at the 2010 NAIA Swimming and Diving Championships at the St. Peters Rec-Plex in St. Peters, Mo. this past weekend.
Friday, the Eagles set five new school records, three of them via the relay races. On the men’s side, the relay team of senior Brian Shepard, freshman Chris Stutzman, sophomore Nathan Roe and senior Zach Perkins broke Biola’s 200 free relay record with a time of 1:25.28, which was good for a seventh place finish. The team of Stutzman, junior Micah Perryman, Roe and Perkins also set a new school record in the 400 medley relay, finishing in 10th place with a time of 3:35.88.
“My favorite swim of the meet was the 400 freestyle relay at the very end,” said Perkins. “It really felt like a team effort and me and all of my teammates recorded our best times.”
For the women, the 400 medley relay team of sophomore Amber Kiel, junior April Smith, sophomore Brittney Rosania and junior Emily Mosbacher swam a speedy 4:01.08, finishing in sixth overall and crushing the previous school record (4:05.78) by nearly five seconds. In the 200 free relay, the quartet finished in eighth place, giving them top 8 finishes in both relays on the day.
“Everyone did way better than any of us expected,” said Mosbacher. “After the meet I felt that it defines why we do this. All the work we put into this makes it all worth it.”
Smith swam superbly in the 100 breaststroke, placing eighth in the finals heat. Her performance, however, was a personal best that broke her previous record that she set at the Pacific Collegiate Swimming Conference meet three weeks ago.
Kiel also had a record setting night, as she broke the school record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 59.62 and became the first Biola female to ever break the minute mark in the event. Kiel’s time would earn her a 10th place finish.
Saturday, the Eagles would pick up right where they left off the day before. For the men, Perkins set a school record in the 100 free with a 46.71 and finished in 13th place. Perkins would later anchor the relay team that consisted of Shepard, Stutzman and Roe, that would set a new school record in the 400 free relay. They swam to a sixth place finish and their time of 3:07.11 was a swift three seconds faster than the previous school record of 3:10.22.
On the women’s side, Kiel crushed her own 200 backstroke record with a time of 2:09.00 to earn a sixth-place finish. Rosania would also set a new school record in the 200 fly. Her time of 2:10.46 would be good enough for a fifth place finish and broke the previous record of 2:12.43 by two seconds.
“My main goal was to be able to get the 200 fly record and I did that,” said Rosania. “It was really encouraging to see all the training, time and soreness come together.”
The big story of the day was Smith winning the 200 breaststroke to become the first Biola Swimming National Champion.
“I was so pumped from watching everyone else earlier in the meet,” said Smith. “It was very surreal, I had no idea I had won when I touched the wall. I was just happy to be swimming and to be a part of the Biola swim team.
With many returners on next year’s squad Biola swim and dive will be poised to excel in competition and continue to improve.
