2024 CAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, February 28 – Saturday, March 2, 2024
- Hampton Aquaplex, Hampton, VA
- Defending Champions:
- Ladies: UNCW (1x)
- Males: UNCW (2x)
- Groups: Campbell (W), Delaware, Drexel, Monmouth, Northeastern (W), Stony Brook (W), Towson, UNCW, William & Mary
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheets
- Dwell Outcomes
- Dwell Video
The newly-rebranded Coastal Athletic Affiliation Championships acquired underway as we speak in Hampton, VA, and the for second 12 months in a row, the Delaware males set a brand new convention document to kick off the meet.
That document got here within the 200 medley relay, the place Delaware shaved 0.36s off of their document from final season.
UNCW truly was within the lead early on, because of a 21.70 leadoff from Will Goldey, with Delaware simply barely behind after a 21.75 from Gavin Currie. Delaware took over on Toni Sabev‘s 22.94 cut up, though Brian Benzing put Towson into competition with a 22.55. That’s the second 12 months in a row that these two males have cut up sub-23 on the breaststroke legs right here, though each had been quicker final 12 months than tonight.
Simeon Sabev widened the Blue Hens’ lead with a 20.72 fly cut up, the quickest within the discipline, and Matvei Namakonov anchored in 19.15. Delaware’s relay consisted of the identical 4 swimmers as final 12 months, and the advance from final 12 months’s mark got here totally on the again half.
Delaware Comparative Splits
Notably, freshman Sebastien Smith of Drexel had the quickest anchor leg within the discipline with an 18.79 to propel Drexel to a 2nd place end at 1:25.25.
Towson received the lads’s 800 free relay in 6:24.96, about half a second forward of UNCW. The distinction for Towson was their leadoff leg, the place Brian Benzing of breaststroke fame clocked a 1:34.55 to set the CAA document within the particular person 200 free. Benzing’s mark clipped the 1:35.04 that William & Mary’s Colin Wright swam in 2020. Wright had a fantastic meet that 12 months, and was in line to develop into W&M’s first male swimmer to qualify for the NCAA Championship in almost 60 years earlier than the meet was canceled to the then-burgeon pandemic.
Tonight, the Tigers quartet of Benzing, Stephen McDonald (1:36.15), Sean Colson (1:37.39), and Luke Schwar (1:36.87) led from starting to finish and got here inside a second of the CAA document of 6:23.97 set by UNCW final 12 months.
The defending champion Seahawks didn’t win a swimming occasion tonight, however they went 1-2 within the 1m diving, with Nicholas Lewis (319.20) and Ethan Badrian (313.50) hauling within the factors. Heading into day 2, the Seahawks now lead Delaware by three factors.
On the ladies’s facet, UNCW opened up the meet by coming inside 0.36s of the CAA document within the 200 medley relay. Quinn Bike led off in 25.39 to place the Seahawks within the lead from the get-go. Gil Shaw (27.48), Cameron Snow (23.45), and Emily Waite (22.57) maintained the lead the remainder of the way in which to the touch in 1:38.89.
W&M took 2nd in 1:39.32, because of a 27.45 breast leg from Ellie Scherer (the quickest of the night time) and a 22.15 anchor leg from Caroline Burgeson. Northeastern completed third in 1:40.21, highlighted by Jamie Koo splitting the quickest fly leg within the discipline with a 23.12.
The Delaware girls repeated as champions within the 800 free regardless of solely having one leg coming back from final 12 months. Lauren Hartel led off in 1:47.79 to offer the Blue Hens the lead, they usually by no means let it go. Anthi Lyra cut up 1:49.10, Olivia Willimsen cut up 1:49.80, and Erin Shema, the one member of this quartet to be a part of final 12 months’s successful relay, anchored in 1:48.71. Delaware received in 7:15.40, almost 4.5s forward of UNCW (7:19.86)
After the primary (albeit abbreviated) day of competitors, UNCW leads the group scores on each the lads’s and the ladies’s facet, because the Seahawks look to repeat as double convention champions.
Scores Via Day 1
Ladies:
- UNCW – 120
- Delaware – 112
- Northeastern – 108
- William & Mary – 106
- Towson – 102
- Drexel – 100
- Campbell – 92
- Monmouth – 88
- Stony Brook – 90
Males:
- UNCW – 114
- Towson – 111
- Delaware – 98
- Drexel – 89
- William & Mary – 56
- Monmouth – 52
