Augusta Lewis Sets Axelrood Pool Record as Athenas Sweep Two SCIAC Duals

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Sophomore Augusta Lewis broke her own Axelrood Pool record in the 200-yard breaststroke with a 2:20.46 as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's swimming and diving team earned a pair of dual wins over Chapman and Cal Lutheran on Saturday afternoon in its home opener.

Lewis swam a 2:20.46 to break her previous mark of 2:20.80, which she set last year against Pomona-Pitzer, as the Athenas won every swimming event on the day to improve to 3-1 in duals (3-0 against SCIAC opponents). CMS defeated Chapman 232-66 and Cal Lutheran 245-40 on the afternoon.

CMS got off to a strong start in the opening relay 200-yard medley relay, where junior Janet Tran (back), first-year Suzanne Starzyk (breast), sophomore Ava Sealander (fly) and junior Natalia Orbach-Mandel (free) finished first in 1:49.33. 

in the first individual event, first-year Gracey Hiebert came in first place in the 1000, and Lewis captured first-place in the 200 free in 1:56.48, just edging first-year teammate Ella Blake (1:56.73). Junior Christina Campbell took first in the 100 back (1:00.26), her first of two backstroke wins on the day, and Starzyk earned a first-place finish in the 100 breast (1:06.79). 

First-year Annie Johnson won the 200 fly in 2:08.60, and Sealander won the 50 free to cap off the first half of the competition, before Orbach-Mandel opened the second half with a win in the 100 free (53.88). Campbell won the 200 back (2:07.57) before Lewis had her record-breaking swim in the 200 breast. 

After narrowly finishing behind Lewis in the 200 free, Blake earned herself a first-place finish in the 500 free in 5:13.32. Sealander then added a 100 fly win to her 50 free victory, and sophomore Natalie Larsen took home the 400 IM in 4:41.15. 

The meet concluded with another win for the Athenas in the 400 free relay, as Blake, Hiebert, Lewis and Orbach-Mandel took first in 3:37.77 to give CMS a clean sweep of the swimming events. First-year Makenna Parkinson won the one-meter dive with 256.40 points, but Chapman's Olivia Guarino won the three-meter as the only non-Athena to win on the day. 

CMS will be back in action on Dec. 6-7, when it has a two-day meet at Pomona-Pitzer to conclude its fall semester schedule.