Swimming places second in C-USA championships

By Ben Rieden 2/27/17 9:21pm

Led by performances by junior Kaitlyn Swinney and junior Alicia Caldwell, the Rice women’s swim team finished in second place at the Conference USA championships last week. The 749 points accumulated by the Owls was not enough to defeat Florida International University, which won its third straight title with a total of 922.5 points.

Rice had several top performers in the individual events this year. Swinney won the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:15.82, the fastest in Rice history. In addition, Caldwell took first place in the 200-yard backstroke with a season best time of 1:57.17. Caldwell also placed third in the 100-yard backstroke and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle. Additional standout performances came from junior Jaecey Parham who got second place in the 200-yard individual medley and sophomore Hanna Huston who placed third in the 500-yard freestyle.

Sophomore Marie-Claire Schillinger also put on an impressive performance at the meet. In the qualifying race for the 100-yard breastroke, she posted a time of 1:00.13 which broke not only the Rice record but also the Conference USA record. She would go on to place first in that event, and added to her performance with a first-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, shattering another school record.

The Owls also excelled in the relays, although they did not manage any first place finishes. Despite breaking a school record in the 400-yard medley relay and posting a season-best time in the 800-yard freestyle relay, the Owls finished second in both events. Rice also got second place in the 200-yard medley relay.