University of Houston
<b>* TULANE</B>
Swimming & Diving Rolls Past Tulane on Saturday
1/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Jan. 28, 2006
HOUSTON - Junior Szintia Szanto set school records in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events to help lead the University of Houston swimming and diving team to a 139-115 win over Conference USA rival Tulane Saturday at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium.
Szanto set a new school record in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:04.39, more than five seconds better than her closest competitor. Her time topped the old mark of 1:04.86 set by Patty Clark on March 1, 1986.
She followed that with another record-breaking performance in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:18.99, nearly four seconds faster than her closest competitor. That time broke the previous record of 2:19.14 set by Helena Pirow on Feb. 27, 1988.
The Budapest, Hungary, native capped her day with another first-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:06.89.
Despite the close score at the end, the Cougars dominated the meet throughout the day. As UH head coach Mark Taylor celebrated his 45th birthday at the meet, his Cougar team won all 12 individual swimming events, swept the top three places in both diving events and earned first-place finishes in both swimming relay events.
With the win, the Cougars ended the 2005-06 regular season with a 9-8 record in dual meets. It was the first winning season by UH since 1999-00 and only the second winning season by the Cougar program in the last 20 years. The nine dual-meet wins also tied the UH single-season record first set by the 2003-04 Cougar team, Taylor's second year at UH.
Freshmen Sasha Schwendenwein and Andrea Pa'lmai joined Szanto as the only three-event winners during the meet. She won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.36 and etched her named as the 10th-fastest performer in school history in that event. Her time was also a UH season-best time in that event and gave her the team's fastest times in the 50-, 100-, 200- and 500-yard freestyle events.
The Randburg, South Africa, native also finished first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:54.29 and captured top honors in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:04.78.
Pa'lmai won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:37.55 and captured first place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 58.97. She also finished first in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:04.50.
The Budapest, Hungary, native has provisionally qualified for the 2006 NCAA Championships in the 1,650-yard freestyle and 400-yard individual medley and set a new school record in the latter event earlier this season.
Freshman Lauren VanCleave won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:07.17, more than five seconds faster than her closest competitor. The New Caney, Texas, native also won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.11.
On the diving side, the Cougars swept the top three places with junior Rachel Gitelson capturing top honors on each event. The Glendale, Ariz., native won the 1-meter competition with 287.00 points and followed that performance with 278.17 points on the 3-meter springboard to capture first place.
The Cougars' 200-yard medley relay team of Pa'lmai, Szanto, VanCleave and Schwendenwein started the day off on a high note after finishing first with a time of 1:47.68.
The meet was switched to Houston from New Orleans as Tulane continues to recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina.
The swimming team will now take off until Feb. 22-25 when they play host to the 2006 C-USA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship and Men's Invitational at the CRWC Natatorium. The divers return to action on Feb. 10-12 when they compete at the Orlando Diving Invitational.
Players Mentioned
