Live Results *click on image above to watch Dan's record-breaking swim
GENEVA, Ohio – Senior
Daniel Fitzgerald confirmed his dominance of the 100 yard backstroke in the Atlantic 10 conference after he broke the conference record of 48.40 with a time of 48.25. The old record was set in 1999 by George Washington's Tim Champney which made it one of the oldest conference records.
From start to finish, Fitzgerald held nothing back – he split a blistering 22.97 at the 50 yard mark. To give an idea of how fast that is, not one swimmer broke 23.00 on the 50 backstroke leg of the 200 yard medley relay on Wednesday night.
“Breaking the record is more than I could have asked for,” said Fitzgerald. “It's nice to see the hard work paying off. I'm excited for tonight for another chance to show what I've got.”
At last year's championship meet, Fitzgerald took gold with a winning time of 48.68 which broke his own La Salle school record and narrowly missed the conference record. With another year of training under his belt, Fitzgerald was poised to take that A10 record down. The time gives him the top seed heading into tonight's finals.
Joining Fitzgerald in the “A” final was junior
Dave Derr who clocked a personal best 50.35 to finish in seventh place. Qualifying in the “B” final was freshman
Justin Hughes with a time of 50.73.
Junior
Cameron Cabrera nearly broke the 1:40.00 barrier in the 200 yard freestyle for the second time this meet, swimming to a 1:40.21 to finish in 8
th place. Cabrera led off the 800 yard freestyle relay on Wednesday night in 1:39.97. Junior
Sean McCall just snuck into the “B” final after posting a 1:41.11 to place 16
th.
Freshman
Johan Roth swam a personal best 56.61 in the 100 yard breaststroke to place fifth heading into tonight's final. The rookie South African managed to best senior
Blase Szyszko who touched the wall in 57.16 to finish in 13
th place.
Sophomore
Kip Gravel swam to a tenth place finish in the 400 yard individual medley with a time of 4:04.23.
Tonight's finals begin at 6:30 PM.
