Swimmers Return from Champs as Divers Head Out

PROVO -- The Cougar swimmers returned from California Sunday after spending the weekend at the Conoco Philips National Championships.

Rachel Grant, Candice Smith, Kassandra Bisbo and Aleesha Miller competed in the championships held in Irvine.

Grant placed 31st in preliminaries for the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:15.78. She also placed 30th in the prelims for the 400 IM and 49th in the prelims for the 200 IM with times of 4:51.91 and 2:19.74.

Smith swam the 100 backstroke in a time of 1:05.63 in the prelims. She also swam in the 200 backstroke prelims with a time of 2:19.04.

Bisbo competed in the 100 breaststroke and finished with a time of 1:16.87 in the preliminaries. Miller attained a time of 27.75 in the prelims of the 50 freestyle.

“They all swam really well,” said head coach Tim Powers. “They’ve been training all summer to get ready for the upcoming season. The other coaches and I are definitely satisfied with their hard work and the way they preformed”.

BYU divers Brandon Watson and Dayna Christensen will be traveling to College Station, Texas for the Diving Nationals. The competition will go from Aug. 11 through the 15th.

“We’re excited for these divers to compete,” said diving coach Keith Russell. “This is Dayna’s first time at nationals and we know she’ll have a great experience”.

The Cougar swimmers and divers are continually working hard to fully prepare themselves for these competitions as well as the 2010-11 season.