University of Houston Athletics
Swimming & Diving Plays Host to Tulane on Saturday
1/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Jan. 27, 2006
HOUSTON - The University of Houston swimming and diving team wraps up its regular-season home schedule at 11:30 .m., Saturday as it plays host to Conference USA rival Tulane at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium on the UH campus.
The meet was recently added to the 2006 Cougar home schedule after continuing rebuilding efforts in New Orleans from the effects of Hurricane Katrina forced the cancellation of the meet in New Orleans.
The Cougars, who stand at 8-8 in dual meets this season, enter their home finale after splitting with New Mexico State and host Nevada last weekend. In that meet, swimmers Szintia Szanto, Andrea Pa'lmai and Sasha Schwendenwein each earned a pair of individual first-place finishes.
This season, that swimming trio has been a consistent force for the Cougars. Pa'lmai has recorded the team's best times in a team-best six different events. In addition, the Budapest, Hungary, native has provisionally qualified for the 2006 NCAA Championships in the 1,650-yard freestyle and 400-yard individual medley.
Her time of 4:23.21 in the latter event broke a school record that stood for nearly 15 years.
Schwendenwein and Szanto are second on the team with best times in three events.
On the diving side, junior Anna Kiess and freshman Tania Cagnotto went 1-2 on both the 1- and 3-meter springboard events for the second straight week. The Cougar duo were the only competitors to crack 300 points in either event, and it accomplished that feat in both.
For their impressive efforts, Kiess and Cagnotto shared the C-USA Diver of the Week honor. It was the ninth time in the 11 weeks that the honor has been presented in 2005-06 that a Cougar received the award.
