CANTON, Ohio. ---The Bethel Men's and Women's Swim and Dive Teams broke seven school records at the Malone Invite last Thursday through Saturday at the CT Branin Natatorium.
The women placed second out of 14 teams, losing to only NCAA Division II Gannon University, while the men placed sixth out of 14 teams.
On Thursday, Freshman
Ella Wardle broke the school record for the 200 IM with a time of 2:08.58. The freshman also showcased a record- breaking performance on Friday in the 400 IM with a time of 4:34.87.
Aixa Recchioni,
Jaylyn Harrison,
Eliza Nuet, and
Ella Wardle swam a 1:36.41 in the 200 Free Relay on Thursday, qualifying for NAIA Nationals (1:38.63) while setting a new Bethel record.
The Men's Team saw success in the 200 Free Relay on Thursday, with
Andrew Williams,
Nico Stuber,
Omar Khatter, and
Jorge Souto Vilas banding together to achieve a new school record of 1:24.68. These Pilots surpassed the NAIA national qualifying standard of 1:25.94.
Jorge Souto Vilas and
Aixa Recchioni continued to excel in the 100 Backstroke Event. Recchioni took second place in the 100 Back on Friday (56.68) to clinch the NAIA qualifying time by nearly a tenth of a second (56.77).Vilas claimed third place (51.20) in his breakout season for the Bethel record.
Sophomore
Sarah Graves set a new record for the 3m Dive on Saturday, scoring 302.15 across 11 dives while taking fourth place.
Head Coach
Chadd Maurer shared, "After 12 weeks of training, the Pilots had one of their best meets of the season at the Malone Invite. With 83 individual events, 51 of them were improvements on their season best or new personal best times."
Maurer continued, "The ladies worked very hard and won eight events and showed a lot of potential in all the other events. The men are starting to build confidence and are proving that they are capable of competing at a high level."
The Men's Swim and Dive Team will next compete against Valparaiso University on Fri, Jan. 16 at 6 PM at the Valaparaiso Aquatic Center. The entire Swim and Dive Program will face the Anderson University Ravens on Sat, Jan. 24 at the Elkhart Health and Aquatics Center at 1 PM.
For more information about Bethel Pilots Athletics, check out bupilots.com or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or X by searching @bupilots or #TheRightWayToPlay.
