Golden Tigers Swim Team Makes History

The weekend couldn't have been more exciting for Brenau University Athletics as the swim team put on their most spectacular performance to date and brought home the hardware to prove it! Overall for the weekend, 5 new school records were set, 11 personal best times were established and two conference records were broken. "We are ecstatic with the result of the ASC Conference- 9 top three finishers, new school records and multiple best times! This was a team effort and we are proud to be Golden Tigers. We look forward to what this year's [NAIA] nationals have in store in less than 2 weeks." said an elated Coach Blaire Bachman.

The Golden Tigers went into Saturday's last and final session with 5 women seeded in the "A" finals heat. Hannah Boudreaux led the evening with a sweeping first place finish and a new conference record in the 400 IM (4:35.10). This was her third conference win over the course of the meet, having blown away her competition in the 200 IM (2:09.48) and 200 Fly (2:07.46). And, in the process Boudreaux established herself as the conference champion in all three individual events- the 200IM, 400 IM & 200 Fly.

Michelle Billeaud followed Friday's 200 Back 2nd place finish (2:09.70) with a 6th place finish in the 50 free (24.77) and a 4th place finish in the 100 backstroke (59.77). Sophomore, Lisa Portwood came from behind to place 3rd in the 200 free (2:00.00); following solid performances earlier in the weekend with a 2nd in the 500 free (5:15.35) and 3rd in 1650 free (18:13.12). In the 200 Breaststroke, senior Julia Ferreira placed 5th in the 200 breaststroke (2:37.10). Not to be outdone, Meredith Barrington rounded out Brenau's individual swims with a 4th place in the 100 Fly (1:00.80).

Saturday's final, and most intense race- the 400 Free Relay- was a nail biter with Brenau coming from behind to cruise past Notre Dame College and Wheeling Jesuit with a solid 2nd place finish (3:37.21). In total, Brenau's women visited the ASC podium 8 times and saw 3 school records fall! Additionally, the Golden Tigers 6th place finish in the ASC was the best to date in the young history for the Brenau Swim program.

For her efforts, Coach Blaire Bachman, was recognized by the ASC as the "Women's Coach-of-the-Year".also a first for a Brenau swim coach!

The Golden Tigers head to the NAIA National Championships in Oklahoma City, OK March 1-4. Full story to follow on the Golden Tigers as they head to the NAIA National Swim Meet.

Final Scores (15 teams total): 1) WJU 556.5 2) AU 510 3) NDC 489.5 4) UC 378 5) MHC 361 6) BU 343