TOWSON, Md. – Select participants from the Towson University swimming team competed in the USA Swimming Futures Championships at Region 1 in Richmond, Virginia Wednesday through Saturday.
The meet features a 50-meter long-course pool, allowing competitors to qualify for future USA Swimming events by eclipsing the qualifying standards for the respective meets.
On Wednesday,
Evan Bota placed 68
th in the 200 free prelims with a time of 2:00.12.
In the 100 breast,
Brian Benzing took the top seed in preliminary heats with a 1:02.00. That time qualifies Benzing for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Indianapolis, Indiana in June 2024. In the evening's finals session, Benzing took gold, improving his time to 1:01.10.
Bridget Thomas placed 23
rd in the 800 free with a time of 9:26.13.
TJ Bearor finished 48
th in preliminary heats of the 100 free, clocking in at 53.70.
In the 100 free A final,
Brian Benzing took silver with a 51.13 in the event.
Luke Schwar and
Michael Fazio took second and third in the B final, clocking in at 52.19 and 52.22 respectively.
Maddie Frick placed 47
th in the 100 back with a time of 1:07.32.
Bota took 26
th place in the men's 100 back prelims, clocking in at 58.92.
Thomas finished the 400 free with a time of 4:35.67, placing 47
th in preliminary heats.
Frick took 51
st in the 100 fly preliminaries with a 1:05.14.
Benzing collected another silver medal in the 100 fly with a time of 54.34, good for second place. Bota finished 28
th with a 57.15. Fazio placed 53
rd with a 58.06.
The 400 free relay team of Bearor, Bota, Schwar and Benzing took silver with a 3:28.50.
Frick's 2:28.53 in the 200 IM finished 49
th in prelims.
In the 200 IM men's prelims, Benzing placed 13
th with a 2:09.44 but did not swim in the event during the evening's finals session.
Fazio took gold in the 50 free with a time of 23.19. Schwar took bronze with a 23.39, meeting the 2023 U.S. Open cut in the event. Benzing placed first in the B final with a 23.49.
Thomas took 15
th in the 1500 with a time of 17:46.91.
