Jan. 28, 2012
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NORFOLK, Va. -- The Old Dominion men's and women's swimming & diving squads spilt their final home meet of the 2011-12 season on Saturday at the J.C. "Scrap" Chandler Pool with the Monarchs defeating Towson, 182-118, and the women falling to the four-time defending CAA champions, 122-155.
With the victory the ODU men improve to 8-2 heading into the conference championships, while the ODU women fell to 7-6 overall.
For the Lady Monarchs, freshman Yesim Giresunlu (Istanbul, Turkey) set a new Lady Monarch benchmark in the 1000 freestyle. The native of Turkey reset her own school record from earlier this season by eight seconds clocking in with a time of 10:00.17. Giresunlu later in the meet was also victorious with a first place time in the 500 freestyle (4:59.87).
Other top times for the Lady Monarchs came from senior Erla Haraldsdottir (Njardvik, Iceland) and junior Kimberley Rashleigh (Sydney, Australia). Haraldsdottir, one of three women's swimmers competing in their final home meet, gave ODU first place finishes in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.26) and 200 breaststroke (2:20.29). Rashleigh meanwhile was the only competitor to hit the wall in under a minute in the 100 backstroke with her time of 57.83.
The ODU women also won both relay events. The 200 medley relay squad of Rashleigh, Haraldsdottir, junior Ashley Luchsinger (Va. Beach, Va.), and senior Emma Forbes (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) raced to a first place time of 1:46.07. The 400 free relay team of Haraldsdottir, freshman Savannah Bowers (Va. Beach, Va.), Luchsinger, and Forbes edged out Towson by .27 seconds to win the final event of the day.
For the men, senior Arni Arnason (Mosfellsbaer, Iceland) and sophomore Sidni Hoxha (Tirane, Albania) were multiple event winners as the Monarchs claimed 10 first place times over the Tigers.
Arnason, the five-time CAA Men's Swimmer of the Week, was victorious in the 200 freestyle (1:39.14), coming in solidly in front of second place teammate Daniel Camozzo (Herndon, Va.). Arnason later earned the top time in the 100 breaststroke (57.78) and was closely followed by sophomore Jason Haigh (Williamsburg, Va.) in second.
Hoxha claimed the first place time in the 50 free (20.82) with freshman Carter Watson (Forest, Va.) in second place behind the defending CAA champion in the event. Hoxha also picked up the win in the 100 freestyle (47.06) as teammates Andrew Crockett (Toano, Va.), Camozzo, and Bernardo Figuredo (Brazil) took the next three spots.
Freshman Andrew Cook (Lynchburg, Va.) led the Monarchs in the 1000 freestyle (9:38.17) as the ODU men posted the top three times in event. Following Cook's finish, Figuredo and junior Jason Brame (Lynchburg, Va.) hit the wall in second and third respectively.
Senior Birkir Jonsson (Keflavik, Iceland), who along with fellow Icelander Arnason were honored on Senior Day for the men, logged a victory in the 100 backstroke. He beat out teammate Andrew Crockett by a mere .12 seconds.
Also earning first place times for the Monarchs in their win over Towson were Jason Brame in the 200 butterfly (1:56.00), sophomore Dogus Akay (Izmir, Turkey) in the 200 backstroke (1:55.22) coming in .66 seconds ahead of second place teammate Daniel Chalfant (Alexandria, Va.), and Haigh in the 200 breaststroke (2:09.01).
Additionally the 200 medley relay team comprised of Jonsson, Arnason, Crockett, and Hoxha swam their way to a top time of 1:32.09.
The Monarchs and Lady Monarch swimming & diving teams return to the water when they travel to Fairfax, Va. to compete in the CAA Championships, which will be hosted by George Mason, Feb. 22-25.