GCU's depth sweeps Seattle U

Saturday, October 20

Phoenix, Ariz.

11 a.m.

Grand Canyon

Seattle U

Photo by: Deb Schaffer

10/20/2018 2:33:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Day 2 Results

8 wins boost Lopes to 127-77 victory over Redhawks

By: Nathan Okonek

The Grand Canyon men's swimming team defeated Seattle U for a second consecutive day, winning 127-77 Saturday with three pool records to give the Lopes five new records for the weekend.

GCU opened with a one-two finish in the 400-yard medley relay, when Owen Cameron, Daniil Antipov, Mark Nikolaev and Bogdan Plavin clocked in at 3 minutes, 28.97 seconds. A second Lopes team of Cameron Carney, Alonso Carazo Barbero, Noah Lambert and Asahi Nagahta finished 1.99 seconds behind the winner.

Nikolaev, Cameron, Plavin and Antipov also captured the title in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:22.11, narrowly breaking the pool record of 1:22.12 set by Air Force in 2017. The all-freshman relay team of Florent Janin, Samuel McKenzie, David Griffth and Mazen Shoukri finished in second (1:23.79).

"We had some fun today mixing up events and we set up our relays as seniors versus underclassmen," Lopes head coach Steve Schaffer said. "The seniors flexed their muscles a bit and came out victorious. It was fun to watch."

Nikolaev won the 200 individual medley in 1:51.78, breaking the record of 1:52.10 that he set last year.

Antipov broke the pool record in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:25.48, nearly seven full seconds faster than the mark set last week by Brooks Fail of Arizona.

"Daniil Antipov and Mark Nikolaev were strong all weekend and very impressive today, as each set pool records today," Schaffer said. "For this meeting being early in the season, what they have been able to do is great."

Shoukri stayed undefeated on the weekend in individual events, winning the 50 freestyle (20.45) and 100 freestyle (45.54).

Junior Eran Ber collected his first individual win of the season in the 200 backstroke (1:54.18) and finished second in the 200 IM (1:58.39).

Janin finished first in the 200 freestyle (1:41.36) and second in the 100 freestyle (45.72).

"Both Mazen Shoukri and Florent Janin had solid swims in their events this weekend, "Schaffer said. "The success of our freshman on the men's side, shows the depth we have as a team. Both of them are going to contribute a great amount to this team and program."

McKenzie finished second in the 200 freestyle (1:43.61) and third in the 100 freestyle (46.23).

Nagahata placed second in the 200 breaststroke (2:08.28) with Carazo Babero in third (2:12.53).

GCU third-place finishes included Nasser in the 200 backstroke (1:56.85), Lambert in the 200 butterfly (1:56.83), Carney in the 200 IM (1:59.30) and Knobloch in the 1,000 freestyle (10:21.86).

"Both teams still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do," Schaffer said. "I think we are off to a very good start. It'll be nice to have a weekend off for everyone to relax and prepare for Air Force."

The Lopes are off next weekend, but return to action Nov. 2-3 as they head to Colorado Springs to take on Air Force's men and women and Northern Colorado's women.

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