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GREENSBORO, N.C. - Jackie Keire successfully defended her individual title in the 500 freestyle to highlight day two of competition for the University of Cincinnati swimming and diving programs at the American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships.
After the first two days of action, the Cincinnati men stand in fourth place, while the women are in sixth.
// KEIRE DEFENDING
Sophomore Jackie Keire (Burlington, Ont./Nelson) won the league title in the 500 freestyle for the second time in as many years, breaking her own meet record with a time of 4:42.68. Keire used an afternoon preliminary time of 4:48.71. She entered the meet with the league's top time and did not disappoint. Keire will look to defend her 200 freestyle title during tomorrow's action.
// PAIR OF MEN IN 500 FREE FINALS
On the men's side, a pair of Bearcats qualified for the championship finals in the 500 freestyle during their first-ever conference championship meet. Eitan Holder (Caracas, Venezuela/Aviv (Israel) swam a time of 4:28.95 in the preliminary round before finishing the finals in 4:30.25, a seventh place finish. Chris Bready (Missouri City, Texas/Lawrence E. Elkins) posted a mark of 4:30.06 to earn the final spot in the A-finals before touching in 4:30.46 during the finals to place eighth.
// TRIO MAKES 200 IM FINALS
Between the men and women, Cincinnati placed three swimmers in the A-finals for the 200 individual medley. Sophomore Andrea Bartel (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid) reached the championship event on the women's side, with a preliminary time of 2:03.81. That seeded her sixth in the evening finals meet, which is exactly where she finished with a mark of 2:04.30.
On the men's side, freshman Ryan DePietro (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) and sophomore Tyler Roehr (Cottage Grove, Wis./Monona Grove) both qualified for the evening finals. DePietro swam nearly identical times, with a 1:49.14 in the preliminaries followed by a 1:49.48 in the finals, placing sixth overall. Roehr had even closer times, posting a mark of 1:50.31 in the afternoon before finishing the evening race in eighth with a time of 1:50.48.
// PIKHARTOVA IN 50 FREE
Senior Helena Pikhartova (Prague, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Jana Nerudy), swimming in her final league championship meet, reached the championship heat in the 50 freestyle. She posted a mark of 23.30 in the preliminary round before a time of 23.27 in the finals to place seventh.
// 200 FREE RELAY NETS TWO PODIUM FINISHES
Both the men and women earned podium finishes in the 200 freestyle relay, which capped the day's action. The women's squad of Keire, Pikhartova, Shelby Spitz (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) and Lindsey Niehaus (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seton) placed second in 1:32.66. On the men's side, Holder, Connor Davis (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson), Alex Hutchinson (Harrison, Ohio/Harrison/Ohio State) and Dean Waite (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale) placed third with a mark of 1:21.07, just ahead of UConn which finished in 1:21.23.
// UP NEXT
Day three of the conference championships on Friday, Feb. 20, includes the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke, as well as the women's three-meter diving and the 400 medley relay.
Preliminary swimming action begins at 10 a.m., with diving preliminaries at 12:30 p.m. and the evening finals at 6 p.m. For live results and live video of the evening session, visit Meet Central on GoBearcats.com.