Missouri Women and Men Command 2018 CSCAA Open Water Nationals

2018 CSCAA Open Water Nationals

• September 22nd, Lone Star Lake, Kansas
• 5,000m race
• Results: Women | Men

The College Swim Coaches Association of America sponsored its third annual Open Water Collegiate Nationals event hosted by the University of Kansas Saturday, and the University of Missouri was in command of a field that improved significantly overall from last year.

Entries were open to any swimmer who had made the following time standards since July 1st, 2017 (or September 1st, 2016, for international swimmers):

• 500 Freestyle SCY — Women: 5:10.00, Men: 4:50.00
• 1000 Freestyle SCY — Women: 10:30.00,  Men: 10:00.00
• 1650 Freestyle SCY — Women: 18:00.00,  Men: 17:00.00

In its first year, the meet got only 68 entries in all. Last year, 94 swimmers competed, and this year, that number went up to 131. Four of those entries were from the Missouri women’s team, and those four all finished in the top seven. On the men’s side, five entered, all finishing in the top nine, including a podium sweep. Missouri thus took the overall team title, snapping Kansas’ two-year streak.

The course consisted of two laps around the main body of the lake.

Women’s Top 8 Finishers

1. Audrey Guyett, Missouri, 1:03:06.31
2. Ana Pozder, Missouri, 1:03:07.28
3. Sarah Nowaski, Rice University, 1:03:08.00
4. Azra Avdic, Missouri, 1:03:10.20
5. Claire Therien, Rice University, 1:03:11.88
6. Catalina Berraud-Galea, Lynn University, 1:03:16.64
7. Courtney Evensen, Missouri, 1:03:17.82 8
8. Jenny Nusbaum, Kansas, 1:03:23.85

Nowaski and Nusbaum were the only repeat top eight finishers from 2017. Last year, Nowaski took 6th in 1:05:26.93, and Nusbaum 5th in 1:05:26.60. All top eight finishers were under last year’s winning time of 1:04.39.

Men’s Top 8 Finishers

1. Giovanni Gutierrez, Missouri, 59:17.48
2. Giovanny Lima, Missouri 59:17.77
3. Jacob Wielinski, Missouri, 59:21.09
4. Minki Kang, Missouri State University, 59:34.61
5. Dayne Odendaal, TCU, 59:35.14
6. Marcelo Figueiredo, Carson-Newman University, 59:39.69
7. Jack DuBois, Missouri, 59:46.70
8. Jacob Hurrell-Zitelman, Trinity University, 59:52.14

Gutierrez and Lima also went 1-2 in last year’s race, each improving on their times of 59:25.05 and 1:01.59, respectively. Wielinkski took seventh last year in 1:04:12.31.