BRONX, NY - The record book continues to be re-written on the second day of the 11th Annual CUNY Athletic Conference men's swimming and diving championships, as Baruch College extends its lead in the men's team standings.
Vladislav Romanav, Pavel Buyanov, Joe Lee, and Mohamed Hikal from the College of Staten Island won gold in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:39.21, setting a new CUNYAC championships record. Their effort was three seconds better than the 2008 championships mark set by Lehman College. Baruch finished silver (Gabriel Yanez, Jeffrey Wong, Kenny Kim, Boris Zhabinski) with a time of 1:41.84, while Lehman earned bronze (Ivan Srdanovic, Orlando Urena, Chris Mammano, Shqiprim Shala) with a time of 1:46.23.
In the 400-yard IM, the Borough of Manhattan Community College's Haftom Ambaye broke the championships record with a time of 4:30.91, nine seconds better than CSI's Vadzim Zhgun effort in the 2008 championships. Baruch's Gustavo S. M. Dancourt won the senior college gold with a time of 4:49.34, while teammate Justin Wong finished silver with a 4:51.88 effort. CSI's Hikal won bronze with a 5:22.30.
CSI won gold in the 100-yard butterfly, as Nikolay Shevchenko finished at 51.75. Kenny Kim and Zhabinski of Baruch rounded out the medal winners with 52.67 and 55.14 times.
Lee made it two gold medals in a row for CSI, winning the 200-yard freestyle in 1:48.13. Kevin Kim of Baruch won silver at 1:50.11, and Lehman's Srdanovic won bronze with a 1:51.47 effort.
CSI's Buyanov made it three-straight - winning gold in the 100-yard breaststroke in 57.91. Lehman's Urena won silver at 1:03.88 and Baruch's Wong won bronze with a time of 1:03.94.
Romanov made it four in a row for CSI, breaking his own championships record set last year in the 100-yard backstroke. His 52.80 performance was almost two seconds better than last year's. BMCC's Ambaye finished second overall at 56.40, while Baruch's Yanez (58.26) and Reyes (1:00.65) won senior college bronze and silver.
Baruch won the 800-yard freestyle relay as Yanez, Ryan Flynn, Camilo Reyes, and Kevin Kim swam to a time of 7:42.26. CSI (Lee, Romanov, Robert Stumpf, Shevchenko) followed, with a time of 7:53.91, while Lehman (Arias, Kreshnik Shala, Mingfan Sun, Joaquin Cruz) won bronze with a time of 8:32.32.
The third and final day of the 11th Annual CUNY Athletic Conference men's and women's swimming and diving championships we be held at the APEX on Saturday, February 6th beginning at 9:00am.