The Genesee Community College swimming teams brought their best to the pool today after setting records in 75 percent of the meets they participated in during finals competition of the National Junior College Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships in Fort Pierce, Fla. March 9.
The foursome of Nathan Richardson, Ferran Martinez, Joan Ferrer and Brandon Brown achieved all-American status with a third-place finish and new school record in the 800 freestyle relay with a time of 7:15.08 in the final event of the evening.
Three of the aforementioned had already recorded individual school records prior to combining for a collaborative record in relay competition.
Ferrer was on the verge of being part of three school records after setting his first in the preliminaries of the 100 backstroke with a 54.96 time and following that with the men's opening finals event at the 100 individual medley. Ferrer set the 100 IM school record with a 55.29 time.
Ferrer's backstroke record stood until the finals of the 100 backstroke when Richardson recorded a 54.09 time and new record and knocked a full two seconds from his preliminary time. Ferrer appeared to break his own record again after improving to a 54.65 time in the finals of the same race.
Not to be out-done by his teammates, Martinez recorded the highest individual finish among the men at fourth with a school record time of 1:54.57 in the 200 butterfly. Ryan Mahaney took 13th in the same race with a time of 2:18.55.
Martinez's finish completed four top-10 finishes among the men that all ended up being school records. In addition to the third-place relay finish and Martinez's fourth-place finish, Ferrer finished seventh in his record 100 IM and Richardson 10th in his record 100 backstroke.
On the national stage, the men's team set school records in four of the five final events they participated in on the third day of the NJCAA Championships. The fourth member of the record-setting relay team, Brown, also raced in the finals of the 500 freestyle with teammate Matthew Langerman. Brown finished 12th (5:00.95), while Langerman was 15th (5:07.94).
The women's team was just as productive in setting records in two of the three final events they participated in.
Nanako Shiozawa had the best finish amongst Cougar women at fifth in the 200 butterfly and set a school record with a 2:20.93 time. Angel Priest started final competition with a school record in the 100 individual medley with a 1:04.26 time and an eighth-place finish. Priest also finished 10th in the 100 backstroke with a 1:04.86 time.
Although the men's team remains in eighth place with 217 points, they are currently 16 points from seventh, 29 points from sixth and 37 points away from fifth overall.
The women's team remained in 10th place after jumping two spots after yesterday's competition and now have 107 points.
The six school records set on March 9 brought the record total to 10 over the first three days of national competition with one day remaining. Day Four preliminaries start at 9:30 a.m. and finals begin at 5:30 p.m. to wrap up the 2018 NJCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
