Charlotte, North Carolina – United States Masters Swimming (USMS) sprinting powerhouse, Erika Braun, did her thing again this past weekend, as she joined three of her North Carolina Masters teammates, Jen Stringer, Kerry Lindauer and Alicia Uhl, in breaking three Masters relay records at the 2015 Sunbelt Championship Meet held at Mecklenburg Aquatic Club.
While at the meet, the foursome competed in the Women 35+ relay category and actually represented three different workout groups that fall within the North Carolina Masters Local Swim Committee (LSC) umbrella. Braun and Stringer both compete for Raleigh Area Masters, while Uhl trains with Hawk Masters in Wilmington, NC and Lindauer swims with home club SwimMAC Masters in Charlotte.
The four athletes joined forces to break the 200y freestyle relay in a new time of 1:36.42, taking down the previous record of 1:36.90 set by Rocky Mountain Masters back in May of 2003 and they split lightning fast legs in the process – 24.50 (Lindauer), 24.73 (Uhl), 24.06 (Stringer) and 23.13 (Braun). **Reminder, this is NOT an age group or college meet – these are MASTERS splits.
The 800y freestyle relay was their next victim, as 2003’s record of 8:00.23 from San Diego Swim Masters was wiped off the books with the NC superwomen clocking of a new mark of 7:58.40. The result was highlighted by two sub-2-minute splits – Braun to lead off the relay in a swift 1:56.87 and then Lindauer in the anchor position splitting 1:58.50. Stringer and Uhl registered 2:01.37 and 2:01.66, respectively.
To complete their trifecta of record-breaking terror, the women took on the 400y medley relay for their 35+ age group and knocked down the previous twelve-year-old mark. Stringer (1:03.18), Lindauer (1:09.12), Uhl (1:00.75) and Braun (51.43) combined for a wicked time of 4:04.48 to obliterate the San Diego Swim Masters’ record of 4:07.99.
On the experience as a whole at Sunbelt, Braun comments, “Jen, Kerry, Alicia and I make such a successful team because we truly enjoy the sport, each other and having fun. The records were just icing on the cake!”
Congratulations, ladies. Well done! You all are amazing.