Swimming and Diving Has Impressive Showing in California

Saturday, January 3

La Jolla, CA

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

UC San Diego/Incarnate Word

Illya Glazunov

Photo by: Deb Schaffer

Swimming and Diving Has Impressive Showing in California

1/3/2015 7:07:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

GCU men won all but one event Saturday in La Jolla

The Grand Canyon University men's and women's swimming and diving teams kicked off the New Year with a strong showing Saturday at the Canyonview Aquatic Complex in La Jolla, Calf. The meet was hosted by UC San Diego and featured four schools on the women's side and three on the men's.

The Antelope men, who won all but one event, topped both Incarnate Word and host UC San Diego, while the GCU women fell to Incarnate Word, San Diego State and UC San Diego.

Click here to view the team scores.

"A very impressive meet for our guys," said head swimming coach Steve Schaffer. "We won all but one event and had some very impressive times for coming off of our winter break training. Our women competed very well against teams that we have never beaten and came up just a bit short to UIW and UCSD. San Diego State held us to just 58 points last year, and we almost doubled that this year. All signs that we are making progress."

Iegor Lytvenok had a strong showing Saturday, collecting a trio of first-place finishes. Lytvenok won the 200-free (1:37.82), 200-back (1:47.87) and 400-IM (4:04.09). John Feely took second in the 200-back after finishing in a time of 1:53.30. Lytvenok's times in the 200-free and 200-back are new pool records.

Stanislav Saiko took first in the 200-fly (1:51.78) and 500-free (4:37.22). Nathon Burwick (1:54.27) finished third in the 200-fly and Trent Godfrey was third in the 500-free (4:43.59). Burwick was second in the 100-fly (50.96 seconds).

Illya Glazunov set a pair of pool records Saturday on his way to winning the 50-free (20.17 seconds) and 100-free (44.91 seconds). Tanner Brotherton and Jacob Lambros tied for fourth after they finished with a time of 21.27 seconds in the 50-free. Lambros (46.32 seconds) took second and Mazen Elkamash (47.14 seconds) fifth in the 100-free.

Feely won the 100-back after finishing in a time of 51.73 seconds. Trent Trump came in third (52.77 seconds) and Fedir Bolychev took fifth (53.50 seconds). Mantas Auruskevicius took first in the 200-breast (2:06.71), while placing third was Aslan Burbayev (2:08.79) and fifth Youssef Elkamash (2:11.88).

Burbayev and Youssef El Kamash tied for the top spot in the 100-breast after touching the wall in a time of 57.55 seconds. Auruskevicius (57.87 seconds) and Tom Wahlers (59.83 seconds) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.

The quartet of Lytvenok, Youssef El Kamash, Fedir Bolychev and Glazunov captured a first in the 400-medley relay after collecting a time of 3:23.09. Jack Feely, Mantas Auruskevicius, Saiko and Lambros came in second just behind their teammates (3:25.67). Lambros, Mazen El Kamash, Brotherton and Glazunov produced a pool record time of 1:22.23 in the 200-free on their way to first.

For the GCU divers, Michael Bidak had a strong showing, winning the 1-meter dive (323.90) and 3-meter dive (275.55). Michael Winfrey placed fourth (231.20) in the 3-meter dive and fifth (219.30) in the 1-meter dive. Rachel Adams finished eighth in the 1-meter dive (197.50) and the 3-meter dive (212.48).

"All three divers had personal bests today and their continued hard work is starting to show," said head diving coach Tracey Eldridge. "I am excited to see more improvements over the next few months."

Hannah Kastigar notched a pool record time and first-place finish in the 200-fly after posting a time of 2:02.63. The sophomore took second in the 1650-free after clocking a time of 17:06.79 and second in the 400-IM (4:22.39).

Iryna Glavnyk secured a first-place finish in the 200-back after clocking a time of 2:00.78. Glavnyk also turned in a second-place finish in the 100-back, finishing in 56.32 seconds. Rebecca Coan garnered a third-place finish in the 100-fly, accumulating a time of 59.63 seconds.

"We got some great racing experience against some very good swimmers, and that will help us at the WAC championships," concluded Schaffer.

The GCU swimming and diving teams will host North Dakota next Friday and Saturday at the Southwest Family YMCA in Goodyear. The Northern Colorado women will also be in Phoenix next Friday competing against GCU and UND. Fans can find more information on the swimming and diving season at www.gculopes.com.

Click here to view Saturday's complete results.