Five women's records fall at PCSC championships

LONG BEACH, Calif. - By breaking her own school record on Saturday in the 200-yard breaststroke, Chapman University freshman Nathalie Klein put the exclamation point on a successful run for the Panthers at the Pacific Coast Swim Conference championships at Belmont Plaza this weekend. It was the second school record in as many days for the rookie who broke teammate Lisa Horn's previous school mark in the 100-yard breaststroke on Friday.

The two individual records capped a week in which five Chapman records fell in all, including the 200-yard and 800-yard freestyle relays and the 400-yard medley relay.

On Wednesday, the 800-free relay team got things started by shattering a 6-year old mark by more than 8 seconds. The relay team of junior Julia Fish, freshman Rachel Graham, sophomore Alex Chan and freshman Samantha McLaughlin finished with a time of 8:09.08, more than 24 seconds better than any Chapman team in that event this year.

The next day, the Panthers shaved a half-second off the school record in the 200-free relay. Graham, Fish and McLaughlin were at it again, this time with freshman Amanda Morris earning a time of 1:42.07 in the event.

Finally on Friday, the relays concluded as another Chapman record fell in the 400-yard medley relay. Fish, Klein, Chan and McLaughlin completed the race in 4:10.86, breaking a 5-year old record by more than a full second. The freshman McLaughlin served as the anchor on all three record-breaking relay teams.

The rest was up to Klein who re-broke her own mark in the 200-breast by more than a second and a half with a time of 2:28.77. She initially broke the school record back in October at the Redlands Invitational with a mark of 2:30.48. On Saturday she added the 100-breast to her resume with a time of 1:08.04. The previous record-holder, sophomore Lisa Horn, set the record at the 2009 championships at Belmont.

Chapman junior Nick Tossey set a pair of school records on the men's side with a time of 2:03.22 in the 200-yard butterfly and then in the 400-yard individual medley with a finish of 4:24.25.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Results: http://www.pacificswimanddive.org/champresults.html