Three Pool Records Fall on Day 1 of Denison Invite

2023 Denison Invitational 

• November 29-December 2, 2023
• Trumbull Aquatics Center, Granville Ohio
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Start Times
  • Prelims: 10:00am (EST)
  • Finals: 6:00pm (EST)
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• Livestream
• Long Course Time Trials Recap

The 2023 Denison Invitational officially got underway on Thursday after a long course time trial session on Wednesday, with the first finals session featuring the 200 medley relay, 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, and 400 medley relay.

Three pool records highlighted the session, all coming on the men’s side.

Cedric Buessing of UIndy took down the first pool record of the night in the men’s 200 IM, clocking 1:46.47 to undercut the old record by 0.63 seconds. That’s also a best time for Buessing by nearly a second, having logged a PB of 1:47.40 just two weeks ago in a dual meet against Carson Newman.

João Silva followed his teammate in the next event, the 50 free, lowering the record by nine one-hundredths in 19.75. He shaved nearly a tenth off his previous best in the process. Silva also dropped the fastest lead-off split in the 200 free relay (19.80) to lead UIndy to the win, and the fastest anchor on the 400 medley relay (43.55).

The last pool record of the night came from Emory in the 400 medley relay. Ryan Soh (47.75), Jake Meyer (51.91), Jeff Echols (47.40), and Nick Goudie (43.98) combined for a time of 3:11.04, which would have won the national title last season. Every leg was an improvement from the Eagles’ 5th-place relay from last season’s NCAAs (3:14.53). Meyer is the only new member.

In addition, they got within 0.53 seconds of the NCAA record, set in 2017 by an Emory team that featured Olympian and D3 legend Andrew Wilson. With that, the Emory men have established themselves as the team to beat in that relay come March, clearing the previous top time by over three seconds.

Crow Thorsen picked up another win for Emory in the 500 free (4:28.39), swimming an impressive back-half to pull away from Denison swimmers Chris McIntire (4:29.27) and Lucas Conrads (4:29.99).

On the women’s side, UIndy’s Andrea Gomez Espinosa set a significant personal best en route to the win in the 500 free (4:52.79). She dropped nearly 10 seconds for her first swim under 5:00. Denison’s Tara Witkowski started to close the gap in the last 150 yards, but ran out of room (4:53.33). Taryn Wisner, the Denison team record holder, 2022 champion, and 2023 runner-up in this event, slid to 7th (4:57.92), almost 10 seconds off her best.

Celina Schmidt picked up a second individual win for UIndy in the 200 IM (2:01.01). She used a 33.80 breaststroke split to separate herself from Denison first-year Olivia Chow, who touched second (2:02.59).

Grace Kadlecik led the host team this session. First, she dropped the second-fastest split of the field in the 200 free relay (22.81), combining with Amber Croonquist, Phoebe Ferguson, and Esme Wright for the win. She followed that up with Denison’s sole individual win of the night, shaving 0.07 seconds off her best time in the 50 free for the win (23.29).

UIndy’s quartet of Caroline Reinke, Celina Schmidt, Stefanie Markwardt, and Isabella Revstedt closed out the session with a win in the 400 medley relay (3:43.70). They now rank 4th amongst D2 teams.

The action continues tomorrow with the 200 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, and 800 free relay.

TEAM SCORES

Women

1. Denison, 603.5
2. UIndy, 419.5
3. Emory, 398.5
4. Eastern Michigan, 303.5
5. Washington U St. Louis, 206
6. Emory & Henry, 82

Men

1. Emory, 569
2. UIndy, 465
3. Denison, 440
4. Washington U St. Louis, 327
5. Emory & Henry, 114