Last Saturday, November 7th, our swimmers arrived at Hixon Natatorium at 7:30 AM, swam a one hour warm-up, made a fast stop at Mabee Dining Hall, and then boarded a 55 passenger Star Shuttle Bus for a leisurely drive up I-35 to Lake Travis (northwest of Austin).
That was the prelude to our 11:00 AM starting horn for the ASA Collegiate 5-Kilometer Open Water Championships. The weather was mild, the lake was mostly calm, and the water a bit cool - awesome conditions for open water racing. Andrew Battles successfully defended his 2008 men's crown, winning the 2009 title over what proved to be a slightly longer course (3.6 miles) with a time of 1:00.23. Runner-up honors went to JJ Lubinski (1:04.59), with Sean Fronczak (1:05.15) finishing in the number three spot. The winner of the women's race was Mary West, who crossed the finish line with a time of 1:05.55. She was followed by Lisa Tucci (1:06.21) and Vanessa Scaringi of UT (1:06.23). Leslie Butts finished fourth with a time of 1:10.44.
This marks Trinity's second appearance at this event, which will likely be moved to early October next fall. That will hopefully encourage more college coaches to consider bringing some or all of their teams to this "out of the box" event. Trinity's swimmers had a fun and memorable experience, and we didn't experience any shark or barracuda attacks during the event (although 2 or 3 swimmers swam a little off course during the first half of the race). A good meal courtesy of Chik-Fil-A and a fast ride home (back in San Antonio at 4:30PM) made a good trip even better. Next up is a dual meet on the 14th with Southwestern University!
-Coach Ryan
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