Swimmers Return From Sunny California

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Swimmers returned from California this weekend after competing in a three-day invitational where the BYU men finished in eighth place with 424 points and the women finished in ninth with 462 points.

“We did pretty well this weekend” BYU head coach Tim Powers said. “We competed against some top teams and had some nice performances for where we were. It was very good for gaining experience and getting a feel for what the standard is. I’m really pleased with our performances, especially because I feel that we did a lot better than last year. ”

The highlights of day three include Allie Dodds finishing in 12th place in the 1650 free with a time of 17:04.20.

In the 200 backstroke, Hailey Campbell placed fourth with an NCAA “B” cut time of 1:57.94, while teammate Candice Smith took ninth, also with a “B” cut time of 1:56.20.

Garret Beaman finished at 12th place with his time of 45.51 in the men’s heat of the 100 free.

Londyn Clawson and Jodie Ellis represented the Cougars, placing 19th and 21st in the 200 breast with times of 2:19.24 and 2:20.26, respectively.

Rafael Alfaro touched in at 2:03.29 in the men’s heat of the 200 breast, earning him a ninth place finish.

Kim Welch grabbed eighth in the 200 fly with a time of 2:04.30, while Gary Arthur placed 15th in the same event with his time of 1:52.30.

The last event of the invite was the 400 free relay where the BYU women’s team of Campbell, Andrea Grant, Smith and Taryn Toolson placed sixth with a time of 3:24.92.

In the same event, the BYU men’s team of Alfaro, Brady Wells, Seth Russell and Andrew Rutherfurd finished fifth with their time of 3:01.70.

The Cougars will take a break from competition before heading to San Diego for their annual Christmas Break training.