Opening weekend nets 4 dual wins with 5 pool records

Friday, October 4

Seattle, Wash.

Grand Canyon

201

111

Seattle U

Photo by: Jack Gilday

10/6/2024 8:24:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

Variety of contributors proves depth for GCU

By: Nathan Peters

SEATTLE – The Grand Canyon swimming and diving team opened the season with four victories after a three-team meet Friday and Saturday with Seattle U and California Baptist.

The GCU men took down the hosting Redhawks 201-111, as well as beating the Lancers 181-134. The Lopes women also opened the season with two wins — 246-66 against Seattle U and 202-112 against CBU.

Opening the season Friday, the Lopes men set the tone early with two pool records.

GCU's 200-yard medley relay squad of juniors Alex Volkov, Carter Dooling and Eli Cohen, and freshman Mario Perez finished in 1 minute, 29.12 seconds to take first and set the Redhawk Center pool record.

The medley relay team of junior Marta Guasp, junior Paula Martinez Moreno, graduate Raphaela Nakashima and senior Maria Brunlehner opened the 2024-25 season with the victory, touching at 1:43.55 to be more than a second faster than the second-place team.

Guasp also went on to win the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:01.30 as well as the 200 indivdual medley with a time of 2:07.77.

Lopes junior Mohamed Mohamady cruised for the 200 backstroke victory at 1:47.39 seconds, clinching the facility record and first place.

GCU senior Fruzsi Macsok took first place in the 400 individual medley by going 4:28.79.

The Lopes women went 1-2-3 in the 500 freestlye with senior Aleksandra Wegrzynowska (5:05.48) taking first place, sophomore Vivi Criscione (5:06.64) taking second and sophomore Summer Dean (5:12.01) in third.

Criscione and Dean also earned GCU first and second, respectively, in the 1,000 freestyle with times of 10:28.42 and 10:34.81.

All three of Saturday's pool records came from the Lopes' relay teams.

Guasp, Nakashima, Martinez Moreno and Brunlehner ignited the day with a 3:45.19 victory in the women's 400 medley relay before Alex Volkov, Dooling, sophomore Guillermo Carrey and freshman Jasu Ovaskainen finished first in the men's 400 medley relay by going 3:14.72.

Including relays, Volkov won five races over the weekend with individual vicitories in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.

Martinez Moreno won the 100 butterfly with a time of 55.75 seconds while Nakashima won the 100 breaststroke going 1:03.27.

The final pool record on the successful opening competition for the Lopes came from the first-place 200 freestyle relay of Carrey, Cohen, Alex Volkov and Perez, which touched at 1:21.58.

The Lopes will next meet with fellow Arizona's Division I programs — Northern Arizona, Arizona and host Arizona State — for an elite meet in Tempe on Saturday.

Full weekend results can be found here.