Queens University’s Patricia Castro-Ortega, a 23-year old sophomore, has broken the NCAA Division II Record in the women’s 400 yard IM.
Once submitted and ratified, her new mark will stand at 4:12.28 – improving upon the 4:14.00 done by Incarnate Word’s Casey Hurrell-Zitelman in 2011. Incarnate Word has since moved to Division I, and Hurrell-Zitelman was a former school record holder at Division I powerhouses Texas A&M who transferred to Division II later in her college career.
Ortega, a Spaniard by birth, is the defending NCAA Champion in the 200 IM, 200 free, 500 free, and 100 free, and broke NCAA Records in each of those events last season, bringing her total up to 5.
The swim also broke the Meet Record of her former Queens teammate Caroline Arakelian by more than 5 seconds – Arakelian swam 4:17.31 last season, but wound up just 8th at NCAA’s in a 4:25.
