INDIANAPOLIS - Junior Claire Brennan (pictured) broke the 500 freestyle record twice and earned All-American honors with a sixth-place finish in the event as the Tufts women's swimming & diving team started the NCAA Division III Championships on Wednesday.
Brennan, swimming at NCAA's for the first time after the last two national championship meets were canceled due to COVID-19, clocked a 4:54.31 time in the 500 free preliminaries this morning. That broke the 4:55.31 school record set by her teammate Katelin Isakoff at the NESCAC meet this year. In the 500 free finals on Wednesday night, Brennan lowered the mark to 4:53.53 to place sixth. It's the first All-American honor she's earned in the pool (All-American awards were given to all national qualifiers in 2020 after the meet was canceled).
Isakoff also scored for the Jumbos in the 500 free with a 4:54.20 time in the finals for ninth place. She receives honorable mention All-American accolades. Among six total Jumbos who finished the NCAA 500 free, sophomore Sahar Mumtaz was 20th (5:00.19).
Tufts senior Abby Claus broke her own school record in the 200 individual medley (IM) tonight with a 2:03.67 time for 11th place overall (third in the consolation final). Her previous record of 2:04.34 came from NESCAC's. It's an honorable mention All-American finish for Claus, her first in competition.
Sophomore Jillian Cudney also had her first honorable mention All-American swim in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.19 seconds in tonight's final for ninth place. She won the consolation final.
The Jumbos were unable to land a spot in the top 16 for the first relay event of the meet on Wednesday. Their 200 medley relay time of 1:45.45 - by Claus, Abby Miller, Mary Laurita and Cudney - was 19th.
With 37 points scored, the Jumbos are in eighth place at the meet after one day.
Tomorrow's action has Tufts in the 200 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay; Claus and Cierra McCarty are in the 400 IM; Lara Wujciak, Laurita and Cudney swim in the 100 butterfly; and Isakoff, Brennan, Mary Hufziger, Allison Cremer, Katie Shelburne and Mumtaz race in the 200 freestyle.
The meet is being held at the IUPUI IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana through Saturday.
