Women Capture First in 200-Medley Relay on Opening Day of WAC Championships

Michael Bidak placed fifth in the 3-meter dive Wednesday.

Photo by: Deb Schaffer

Women Capture First in 200-Medley Relay on Opening Day of WAC Championships

2/25/2015 7:46:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

Competition in San Antonio to resume Thursday

The Grand Canyon University men's and women's swimming and diving teams kicked off competition at the 2015 WAC Swimming and Diving Championships Wednesday in San Antonio, Texas. The four-day event is being held inside the Palo Alto Aquatic Center on the campus of Palo Alto College.

"We had a great first night," said head coach Steve Schaffer. "The women won the 200 Medley Relay, successfully defending their title from the 2014 WAC Championships and they battled back to take 2^nd in the 800 Free Relay. The men set team records in both of their relays, pushing UNLV in each of them. Our times were impressive, but most importantly, we raced really well."

The Antelopes had a strong opening day, as the GCU women captured first in the 200-medley relay and finished second in the 800-free relay. The Canyon men were also impressive in Wednesday's relays, taking home runner-up finishes in the both the 200-medley and 800-free. All four relay teams swam to season-best times Wednesday.

In the women's 200-medley, it was Iryna Glavnyk, Vangelina Draganova, Rebecca Coan and Hannah Kastigar recording a top time of 1:40.50. The quartet of Glavnyk, Petya Dimova, Joana Ulyte and Kastigar made up the 800-free relay squad that took second with a time of 7:23.83.

On the men's side, it was Iegor Lytvenok, Youssef Elkamash, Fedir Bolychev and Illya Glazunov producing a second-place time of 1:26.86 in the 200-medley and Lytvenok, John Feely, Stanislav Saiko and Jacob Lambros taking second in the 800-free with their time of 6:28.91.

Michael Bidak notched a fifth-place finish in the 3-meter dive, as the junior collected 282.40 points to lead the GCU divers. Michael Winfrey qualified for the finals in the 3-meter dive after totaling a score of 197.40 in the prelims. and Rachel Adams tallied 181.25 points in the prelims of the 1-meter dive Wednesday.

The team set five new school records on the opening day of the championships, as the men's 200-medley and 800-free relays set new school records, as well as Lytvenok in the 50-back and 200-free. Bidak's score of 291.25 in the prelims of the 3-meter dive is also a season-best and new program record.

Day two of the WAC Swimming and Diving Championships will get underway on Thursday. Fans can find more information, including live links to follow the action, at www.gculopes.com.

Wednesday's results can be viewed here.