Whoever updates the swimming and diving record board at Fordham will have a big job this year.
The Fordham women’s squad set 16 school records and the men’s side added five more at the 2009 Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships. The annual competition was held from Feb. 18 to 21 at the Flickinger Athletic Center in Buffalo, N.Y.
Leading the Fordham women was freshman Courtney Collyer, who won two events and set one conference mark. She won the 400 individual medley in a school-record time of 4:22.16, snapping the old mark set in 1993.
On the final day of the meet, Collyer took gold in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:59.96, surpassing the former A-10 record set in 1993 and shattering the Fordham mark.
Collyer was named the Atlantic 10 Female Rookie of the Meet—the first Fordham woman to earn the honor—and was named First Team All-Conference.
Her success in the pool was the leading edge of a team effort that earned the Fordham women a second-place finish, their best showing at the Atlantic 10 Championships. Previously, their highest finish was third in 2007.
For some icing on the cake, Head Coach Steve Potsklan was named the Women’s Coach of the Year, his first A-10 honor.
Photo courtesy of Fordham Athletics
Junior Caitlin Napoli also was named First Team All-Conference, and won two events, placing first in the 200 and 500 freestyle and setting school records in both. She also finished second in the 200 butterfly.
Freshman Kelly Bunster set the school mark in the 100 fly by clocking a 55.43.
The women’s 800 freestyle relay team took home gold and set an Atlantic 10 and school record, winning the event in 7:24.25.
Earning Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honors for the women were Napoli; Bunster; junior Tressa Dunn, who finished second in the 100 and 200 freestyle; the 200 and 400 medley relays; and the 400 freestyle relay.
Sophomore Christina Cosentino set the 200 back mark with a 2:01.94, placing sixth, while the Fordham women combined to swim 1:35.85 in the 200 freestyle relay, taking sixth and breaking the school record.
The 400 freestyle relay placed second, with a school-record time of 3:24.56.
Junior Nicole Marshall also had a strong championship meet, setting school records in the 100 and 200 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley; finishing third in the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley; and fourth in the 200 breaststroke.
On the men’s side, junior Ryan Coombs won the 200 fly with a season-best time of 1:50.03. He placed fourth in the 200 freestyle, with a season-best time of 1:40.17, and the 500 freestyle, taking eighth with a season-best time of 4:40.77.
Not to be outdone, twin brother Justin Coombs, also a junior, set a school record, swimming a 20.72 in 50 freestyle preliminaries. He placed fourth in the finals.
The 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams earned Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honors by taking second in each race. The 200 freestyle relay finished in a school-record time of 1:22.21, while the 400 free relay swam a school record time of 3:01.54.
There were two other record-setting relays. The 200 medley relay placed third with a time of 1:31.62. The 400 finished sixth with a time of 3:23.95.
Overall the Fordham men placed fourth at the championships with 415 points.
