Anderson Breazeale, Frank Applebaum Set SCIAC Records on Day Two of League Championships

LOS ANEGELES, Calif. - Anderson Breazeale broke the SCIAC record in the 500-yard freestyle with a 4:24.75, and Frank Applebaum broke a 26-year old record in the 200 IM with a 1:46.38 to help the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's swimming and diving team build a nearly 100-point lead at the midway point of the 2024 SCIAC Championships at East Los Angeles College Swim Stadium on Friday.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Jeremy Tan, Dylan Krueger, Theo Johnson and Applebaum also set a new SCIAC meet record with a time of 1:20.81, and Cyrus Gaylord took first place in the three-meter dive, as CMS won four of the five events that were held on Friday. 

Gaylord began the day with a narrow win in the one-meter dive, finishing in first place with 529.65 points to edge out Jake Randazzo of Chapman with 520.85 points. Jack Griffith, who won the one-meter last year, was fourth, while Ben Smith was seventh, Bennet Matazzoni eighth, Ethan Sattley 10th and Luke Vlases 11th, as the Stags loaded up on diving points by entering six scorers, who totaled 71 points towards the CMS total in the one-meter.  

The first swim event was the 500-yard freestyle, and the Stags earned a 1-2 finish with Breazeale earning a 4:24.75 to break the record held by teammate Lucas Lang, who swam a 4:25.67 at the NCAA Division III Championships in 2022. Lang came in second to Breazeale on Friday with a 4:26.29 to earn All-SCIAC honors. 

Applebaum then swam a 1:46.38 to edge out Larry Yu, the 2023 SCIAC Swimmer of the Year, by just .41 to take first place. His time broke the previous SCIAC record held by Gary Simon, who earned the National Swimmer of the Year Award for the Stags when he competed at the 1998 NCAA Championships. Spencer Merodio also qualified for the finals and added a fifth-place finish for the Stags.  

Krueger reached the finals in the 50 free and came in sixth with a 20.85, while Johnson won the consolation heat in 20.78. 

CMS now has 435.5 points heading into Saturday's third day, with Pomona-Pitzer at 334 points.