AUBURN, Ala. — Vanderbilt swimming began the SEC Championships Tuesday at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center by setting a pair of school records.
In the opening race of the meet Sophia Kosturos, Faith Knelson, Alina Stout and Megan Ciezczak broke the previous mark in the 200 medley relay, with the quartet of Ellie Taliaferro, Abby Francis, Emily Carpenter and Mercedes Traba later posting a new standard in the 800 free relay.
“That was a really tremendous start for the team and a great way to kick off the week,” head coach Jeremy Organ said. “The pieces were there, and everything fell into the right place at the right time. Seeing all the hard work the ladies have put in all year long to get ready for this meet and have it come out like that was exciting. Those swims set us up for a fun and exciting week.”
The first full day of competition at the meet will begin with 9:30 a.m. preliminary heats on Wednesday, with finals scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.
Notes
-The team of Kosturos, Knelson, Stout and Ciezczak finished the medley relay in 1:39.01, just over a tenth of a second faster than the previous mark set at the 2018 SEC Championships.
-Just over an hour later, the group of Taliaferro, Francis, Carpenter and Traba broke the previous mark in the free relay—recorded at the SEC Championships in 2015—by more than five seconds after posting a time of 7:16.48.
-Taliaferro had a 1:47.44 time to start the free relay, breaking her own record at that distance she set the league championships last season.
-Kosturos’ opening leg in the 200 medley relay, a 24.90 split, was the quickest 50 back on record in program history.
-It’s the third and fourth times this season that the Dores have set a school record in a relay.
