ISU swim and dive breaks records in day three of The Big Challenge

Rachel Given

The ISU swim and dive team has had record-breaking times and races the past three days at The Big Challenge in Topkea, Kan. That was also the case on Sunday. 

In the last day, newcomer Mollie McNeel, a long distance swimmer, jumped to 17th on the ISU all-time performers list after her 1650 yard freestyle race. Karyl Clarete, another long distance swimmer, also swam the 1650. Since this race is so long, no one will swim this race twice, but their times from the preliminaries can place them in the top eight to score team points. McNeel placed 10th overall in the 1650.

Also, 22 out of the 23 preliminary times Sunday morning qualified for finals Sunday night for the Cyclones.

Savanna Townsend and Kaylee Kucera set new personal records for the 200-yard butterfly this morning with times of 2:06:38 and 2:10:10, respectively.

In Lawrence, Kan., at the KU Dive Invite, the Cyclones took first, second and fifth places in the prelims.

After a short break, both teams headed to their respective pools for the last day of final rounds.

Kasey Roberts was trailing first place in the 200-yard breaststroke by .32 seconds, but in the last 50 yards of the race, she broke the trail and won first place by .55 seconds.

As for conference finishes, the Big Ten took first while the Big 12 fell shortly behind and the Mid-Major took third place.