UB Men's 200-Yard Medley Relay Team Claims National Title
Oscar Pereiro, Piotr Safronczyk, Toni Valcic and Nikola Savic Win NCAA 200-Yard Medley Relay In A Time Of 1:28.25 To Highlight Strong First Day By The Purple Knights At 2011 National Championships
San Antonio, Tex.-The University of Bridgeport men's and women's swimming teams got off to a fast start at the 2011 NCAA Division II National Championship Meet being held at the Palo Alto Natatorium in San Antonio, Texas, as the Purple Knights turned in four individual All-American performances and the men's 200-yard Medley Relay Team made history by winning school's first-ever NCAA National Relay title taking first place with a time of 1:28.25. The Bridgeport men's swimming program is in only its second year at the varsity level.
Freshman Oscar Pereiro (Aruza, Spain) led off with a strong backstroke leg, followed by Piotr Safronczyk (Bialystok, Poland) in the breaststroke, sophomore Toni Valcic (Ribinica, Slovenia) in the butterfly and senior Nikola Savic (Novi Sad, Serbia) brought home the Purple Knights' national title with a strong freestyle leg, as Bridgeport edged second place Florida Southern by .38 of a second.
Individually, in the men's 50-yard Freestyle, sophomore Toni Valcic took third place with a time of 20.14, and senior Nikola Savic grabbed sixth place with a time of 20.49.
In the men's 200-yard Individual Medley, junior Piotr Safronczyk became an All-American in back-to-back NCAA Championships by finishing sixth in a time of 1:50.35.
On the women's side, freshman Sonia Arau (Barcelona, Spain) continued her fantastic debut season at UB by taking fifth place in the 200-yard Individual Medley with a time of 2:04.03.
In the team standings, the Bridgeport men are in second place after day one at the 2011 NCAA Division II Championships with 82 points trailing first place Drury University with 127 points.
Action at the 2011 NCAA Division II National Championship Meet continues through Saturday, March 12th.