The Lindenwood swimming and diving both had successful showings at the 2011 NAIA Swimming and Diving National Championships. The men's team came in third place for the second straight year, while the women's team improved three spots from last year and finished seventh.
Javier Hernandez led the Lindenwood program by winning a national championship in the 200 fly. He broke his own record in the event with a time of 1:46.62 and won back-to-back titles.
The men's team finished with 425.5 points, winning a narrow three-way fight for that bronze position. The women's team finished with 211 points.
Fresno Pacific won the men's championship with 698.5 points, and California Baptist won the women's title with 616 points.
Day One Recap
Lindenwood diver Colin Sharpe finished second in the three meter diving competition on the first day of the 2011 NAIA Swimming and Diving National Championships. Sharpe recorded a score of 296.55 in the prelims and improved that to 319.70 in the finals. He finished 22.50 points behind the winner.
Day Two Recap
On the first day of swimming action, three Lindenwood men's swimmers advanced to individual A finals.
Javier Hernandez had the best showing as he was the runner-up in the 200 IM. In a race that included the past two national champions, Hernandez swam a time of 1:49.96. He finished just over two seconds behind the winner of the event.
Two Lions placed in the top 10 in the 500 free. Cody Friedhoff was seventh and Uba Zavaleta came in 9th. In the 50 free, Ivars Akmentins was fifth overall, and Reinis Rozensteins came in 13th.
On the women's side, Sarah Billiamosa led the Lady Lions by winning the B final of the 200 IM. Kay Rosenhauer also had a top 10 finish by coming in 10th in the 500 free. The other scorer was Stephanie Heutel who came in 16th in the 500 free.
In the day's relay events, the men's 200 medley and 800 free relays both finished fourth. The women's 800 free relay came in seventh, while the 200 medley relay team was 11th.
Day Three Recap
Friday at the pool was a day of near misses for Lindenwood as it finished runner-up in three events. The closest call came in the 200 free relay which the men's team came in second by just 0.01 second. Also on the men's side, Javier Hernandez was second in the 100 fly, coming in less than a second behind a three-time NAIA champion. On the women's side, Billiamosa was second in the 400 IM.
The men's team top event on the day came in the 100 fly where four swimmers scored. Igor Iovanovich led the way with a fourth-place finish, and Friedhoff was seventh. The other strong event was the 100 back where Ramunas Paknys was fourth and Simon Morley was fifth.
On the women's side, the second-best individual showing on the day came from Heutel who finished 10th in the 100 back.
In the relays, the men's 400 medley came in fourth, the women's 400 medley came in sixth, and the women's 200 free came in ninth.
Day Four Recap
Both Lindenwood squads finished strong. With two events left, just 1.5 points separated three teams, including the Lions, for third-place. Lindenwood scored three swimmers in the 200 fly and then was runner-up in the 400 medley relay to capture third. On the women's side, the Lady Lions scored 79 points in the final session and moved up one spot in the final standings.
Hernandez was the story of the night as he won the 200 fly. Also in that event, Yannis Chader was ninth and Gilad Brunfman was 13th. In the 100 free, Iovanovich finished in a tie for sixth, Ivars Akmentins was 10th, and Diego Banda was 13th. The other swimmer to finish in the top eight was Zavaleta who came in sixth in the 1650 free.
Also on the men's side, Morley came in ninth in the 200 back and Paknys was 10th in that event.
On the women's side, Heutel came in sixth in the 200 back. Other top finishes included Billiamosa coming seventh in the 200 fly, Rosenhauer was seventh in the 1650 free, Kiana White was eighth in the 200 breast, and Kelsey Hutton was ninth in the 1650 free. In the women's relay, Lindenwood came in eighth in the 400 medley.
