INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Fighting Illini ended in 3rd place after a successful first day of competition at the House of Champions Invitational. The Illini recorded 18 lifetime bests and 4 college bests, with three Illini swimmers breaking their lifetime bests twice in a single day. Day 1 in Indianapolis also brought the Illini 6 top 10 finishes in their event finals.

"Overall we had a very strong day in the pool, with multiple lifetime and season best times," said head coach Sue Novitsky, "The team was fighting and competing with great energy each session. We are looking forward to more opportunities tomorrow as well as the divers getting their first chance to compete this meet." 

The Orange and Blue kicked off the preliminaries with a strong start, sending 10 Illini swimmers to the finals in their events. The Illini clocked a total of 9 lifetime bests in the 50 freestyle preliminary itself, with Isabelle Guerra (23.58), Mariclaire Lynch (24.41), Lauren Beard (25.24), Jane Umhofer (24.34), Logan Kuehne (23.46), Abigail Martin, Athena Salafatinos (23.73), Suvana Baskar (24.76), and Laurel Bludgen (23.50) breaking their prior best. Anna Kurzydlo recorded a lifetime best in the prelims for the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:08.92, which she then broke later in the day.

The 200 freestyle relay team kicked off the finals with a first place finish with a time of 1:32.17, landing Bludgen, Molly Yetter, Abigail Cabush, and Guerra at the 6th fastest time in Illini history. The Fighting Illini also brought home 6 top-10 finishes in the finals, with four of those being in the 50 freestyle. Cabush led the Illini in that race, placing fifth and recording a lifetime-best time of 23.38. Molly Yetter followed two-hundredths of a second later, with a college-best time of 23.40, placing sixth.The highest placement for the Orange and Blue on Day 1 came from Kaleigh Haworth, who placed fourth in the 200 IM with a time of 2:05.92.

Three Illini Swimmers broke their lifetime bests twice in the single day of competition. Isabelle Guerra broke her lifetime best in the 50 freestyle first with a time of 23.58, and then broke it again in the A final with a time of 23.41, placing 7th. Lauren Partridge did the same in the 200 IM, clocking a 2:10.96, and then a 2:10.31 in the C finals. Finally Anna Kurzydlo broke her record twice in the 500 freestyle, first swimming a 5:08.92, and then a 5:06.33 in the C-final, placing 20th.

The Fighting Illini swim team continues competition tomorrow at 9 a.m. CT. Event order for Saturday will be as follows:

Friday, Nov. 19th

Preliminaries - 9 a.m. CT

100 Butterfly

400 IM

200 Freestyle

100 Breaststroke

100 Backstroke

Finals - 5 p.m. CT

200 Medley Relay

100 Butterfly

400 IM

200 Freestyle

100 Breaststroke

100 Backstroke

800 Freestyle Relay

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