CMS Women's Swimming and Diving Holds 16-Point Lead After First Day of Pomona-Pitzer Dual

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Sophomore Augusta Lewis shattered the Haldeman Pool record in the 200 IM and first-year Ella Blake set a new facility mark in the 500 free to help the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's swimming and diving team to a 63-47 lead over Pomona-Pitzer after the first day of a two-day dual meet on Friday afternoon.

The Athenas also saw both relay teams (400 medley, 200 free) earn first-place finishes in new Haldeman Pool record time as well, as CMS won four of the five swimming events on the opening day. 

Lewis, who is the reigning SCIAC Swimmer of the Year after earning the honor as a first-year last season, finished the 200 IM in 2:03.14. She won by a healthy margin of 4.8 seconds, and passed the old pool mark (2:06.95 by Noelle Tarazona in 2016) by almost four full seconds. In her last time out, she set a new Axelrood Pool record in the 200-yard breaststroke in a SCIAC tri-meet with Chapman and Cal Lutheran on Nov. 16. 

The 500 free saw the Athenas earn a 1-2 finish, with first-year Ella Blake finishing in 5:05.80 to break the pool standard in that event, passing the old mark of 5:07.10, which was held by Christie Halverson of Cal Baptist. Junior Christina Campbell finished second for the Athenas in 5:08.10, an impressive 1-2 for a CMS team that is missing standout junior distance swimmer Mia Syme (SCIAC Champion in both the 500 and the 1650 as a first-year and a sophomore) in the fall while she studies abroad.  

The Athenas got off to a strong start with a new pool record in the 400 medley relay, with Campbell, first-year Suzanne Starzyk, sophomore Ava Sealander, and junior Natalia Orbach-Mandel finishing in 3:49.48.  Orbach-Mandel also capped off the day's action with a strong anchor leg in the 200 free relay in 23.28 to rally the Athenas from behind for a win by just .18 (1:35.60 to 1:35.78) in another Haldeman record. 

CMS was just two-hundredths of a second shy of sweeping all of the day's swimming events, as Sealander finished the 50 free in 24.04, just behind the winning time of 24.02 from Pomona-Pitzer senior Hannah Zurnbuhl. Starzyk also came in third for the Athenas in 24.31. 

The second day of the two-day dual will take place tomorrow, beginning at 11 a.m. Individual events will include in the 100 and 200 in the freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, as well as the 400 IM, the 1650 and the three-meter dive.