Men's & Women's Swimming Races Past Manhattan

Bridgeport, Conn.-The University of Bridgeport women’s and men’s swimming team were in action on Martin Luther King Day in the Wheeler Recreation Center Natatorium, and the Purple Knights swept a dual meet over the Manhattan College Jaspers.  The UB women topped the Jaspers, 115-102, and the men won by a score of 122-110.  Monday meet was a reschedule of a meet that was originally slated to take place in early November but was postponed due to Superstorm Sandy.

Highlighting Monday’s men’s action were five NCAA “B” standard times turned in by the Purple Knights.  In the 200-meter Freestyle Relay, the team of junior Ruben Gimenez (Burgos, Spain),  sophomore Vladislav Paskas (Zrenjanin, Serbia), graduate student Krzysztof Wilk (Krakow, Poland) and junior Oscar Pereiro (Arzua, Spain) won the event in a time of 1:32.27 which is the thirteenth fastest clocking in Division II so far this season.

Sophomore Matheus Lima (Santos, Brazil) turned in NCAA “B” times in the 100-meter (56.93) and 200-meter (2:05.88) Backstrokes, and senior Vyacheslav Fattakhov (Almatt, Kazakhstan) accomplished the same feat in the 100-meter (1:04.64) & 200-meter (2:18.28) Breaststrokes.

Senior Artur Pietrzak (Lezno, Poland) grabbed two first places for Bridgeport on Monday winning the 100-meter (58.16) and 200-meter (2:11.33) Butterfly events.

Other UB individual male event winners against Manhattan were Ruben Gimenez in the 100-meter Freestyle (53.13), Oscar Pereiro in the 50-meter Freestyle (24.80) and Vladislav Paskas in the 200-meter Freestyle (1:57.48) plus freshman William Wright (Naugatuck, Conn.) had the top time in the 400-meter Freestyle (4:28.84).

For the women on Monday, five swimmers turned in the top times in two events.  Sophomore Mona Hagelstein (Hamburg, Germany) had the top finish in the 100-meter (1:08.67) and 200-meter (2:38.75) Butterfly races.  Ilka Oberle (So., Schwanau, Germany) was fastest in the 100-meter (1:18.42) and 200-meter (2:46.71) Breaststrokes.  Alja Tavcar (So., Ljublijana, Slovenia) had the best times in the 200-meter (2:12.83) and the 400-meter (4:47.54) Freestyles, and classmate Alina Sotnikova (Riga, Latvia) was first in the 50-meter (27.50) and 100-meter (59.89) Freestyles.  Newcomer Jaimy Lee Taskin (Fr., Noordwijkerhout, Holland) took first place in the 100-meter Backstroke (1:06.82) and the 200-meter IM (2:29.60).

Freshman Claudia Esteban (Zaragoza, Spain) completed the first place finishers for the Bridgeport women on Monday by taking the top spot in the 200-meter backstroke (2:28.19). 

The Bridgeport women return to the water this Saturday, January 26 when they host the LIU Post Pioneers in a meet that begins at 1:00 p.m.  Saturday will Senior Day for both Bridgeport teams, as the men’s squad will compete in time trials while the women take on the Pioneers.  The UB men are back in dual meet action on Saturday, February 2 at St. Peter’s College

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