Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association (CCSA) – Men and Women
- Wednesday, February 20 – Saturday, February 23
- Liberty Natatorium, Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: Incarnate Word men & FGCU women (4x) (results)
- Live results
- Live Video
- Championship Central
- Format change: Women will score 3 finals, with 9 in each final. Men will score 2 finals, with 9 in each final.
After weather disrupted the first day of the CCSA Championships, timing issues disrupted the morning of the second. In the evening session, timing was back on stage, resulting in two more disruptions in the meet. In the men’s 50 free final, the times all registered on the scoreboard between 19.3 and 19.7, before the ultimate winning time was awarded at 20.29; and in the women’s 200 IM C final, all 8 swimmers were originally given 23-second butterfly splits, before more corrections were made.
On the women’s side, Liberty took a sizable lead on Florida Gulf Coast, as those two teams separated from the pack, whereas on the men’s side, Incarnate Word geared up looking for a title repeat.
Women’s Recap
Team Standings After Day 2:
1. Liberty – 790.5
2. FGCU – 648
3.Incarnate Word – 485
4. Georgia Southern – 484
5. UNC Asheville – 313
6. Campbell – 298.5
7. Gardner-Webb – 265
8. North Florida – 240
9. Howard – 203
Note: scores include reinstated Florida Gulf Coast 800 free relay from day 1.
Liberty University used their depth to take nearly a triple digit lead heading into Day 3. The first happening in the meet tonight didn’t happen in the pool: Florida Gulf Coast’s 800 free relay was reinstated, after being disqualified yesterday for an early start,. A notoriously finicky timing system meant that all the reaction times from that event were thrown out. FGCU now slots into second with a time of 7:20.78. But it will take a big push over the next two days for FGCU to have a shot at retaining their title.
Florida Gulf Coast followed up that rules-based momentum-changer in the pool, as their 200 freestyle relay of Gracie Redding (22.78), Wiktoria Czarnecka (22.25), Hannah Burdge (22.77), and Rebecca Moynihan (22.22) won in 1:30.02, to dominate the field by 1.85 seconds. Liberty was second (1:31.87), and Camels (1:32.69) was third, as FGCU had the four top splits in the field (although two of Liberty’s were messed up).
Immediately after, FGCU’s Megan Wakefield won the the 3 meter diving with a score of 336.50, and a dominant 45.85 point win. It wasn’t until the 500 that Florida Gulf Coast came back to Earth, as Liberty dominated the A final, placing 1-2-4-5-8. The entire eventual top 5 were out close together, hitting halfway together in 2:24. But Liberty teammates Emily Manly and top seed Alicia Finnegan were the only two to keep every split under 30, and Manly (4:51.13) outtouched Finnegan (4:51.23) by just a tenth.
In the 200 IM, Mikayla Herich of Liberty put up the first NCAA B-cut of the meet to win in 1:59.82. Herich split 26.45-30.33-34.48-28.56, and the field-fastest breast and free splits gave her a 1.93 second margin.
Finally, the FGCU and Liberty rivalry was front and center in the 50, as those two teams combined for the top 7 spots. Gracie Redding (22.65) of Florida Gulf Coasst won the event in an NCAA B-cut, and her fastest of 3 sub-23 swims on the day. Behind her, FGCU’s Wiktoria Czarne and Liberty’s Colleen Donlin tied for second in 23.05.
Men’s Recap
Team Standings After Day 2:
1. Incarnate Word – 342
2. Florida Atlantic – 276
3. Gardner-Webb – 256.5
4. Old Dominion – 234
5. NJIT – 138
6. Mount Saint Mary’s – 106.5
7. Howard – 105
Incarnate Word came into Day 2 as a 30-point leader, and they exited it the leader by 62 points, as that team looks more and more likely to repeat as CCSA champs.
Gardner-Webb’s Dowdy Sarvis (20.98), Tim Bennett (20.20), Brady Fields (19.75), and Zach Dingfield (20.13) started off the evening by winning the 200 freestyle relay in 1:21.06 over Incarnate Word (1:21.92) and Old Dominion (1:21.95). Fields was the only 19-point split in the field.
In the 500 freestyle, top seed Vlad Chumak of Incarnate Word led early, hitting halfway in 2:12.56. But Chumak faded and ended up fifth, while FAU’s Josh Fountain streamed ahead to take the win in 4:26.93. Fountain’s last 100 was 52.36, and he won by over two seconds over Chumak’s teammate Sergio Duran Mata.
In the 200 IM, Incarnate Word took their first win of the night, as Hector Ruvalcab won in 1:48.17. Ruvalcab was the top seed this morning, and after field-fastest fly (22.81) and back (27.13) splits, he cruised unchallenged for the win. Ruvalcab was the only sub-1:50 this morning, but four other men joined him tonight: Beau Fusilier (1:49.11), Jordan Mintz (1:49.59), Chase Mattingly (1:49.67), and Filip Svedberg (1:49.91).
Carter Wallace of Incarnate Word took the 50 out in 9.809999 seconds (yay for the timing system!), right behind Brady Fields (9.77) of Gardner-Webb. But Wallace pulled ahead and pulled away over the last 25 to win in 20.29 over Fields’ teammate Zach Dingfield (20.50).