Oct. 31, 2013
THIS WEEK
The San Diego State swimming and diving team will compete in its first regular dual meet of the season when it visits Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday (Nov. 1) to take on TCU at noon at the University Recreation Center Pool. The Aztecs and Horned Frogs met annually from the 2007-08 season to 2011-12 while TCU was a member of the Mountain West Conference. San Diego State won four of those five dual meets.
HEAD COACH MIKE SHRADER
San Diego State Head Coach Mike Shrader is in his seventh season with the Aztecs and has compiled a dual meet record of 77-13 (.856) during his tenure. Shrader has been named the Mountain West Coach of the Year on four occasions (2013, 2011, 2010, co-coach in 2009). Including eight seasons as head coach at Nevada, his career record is 166-26-1 (.863).
AZTECS OPEN WITH PENTATHLON WIN AT USD
San Diego State opened its 2013-14 campaign by winning a pentathlon meet at the University of San Diego on Sept. 21 by the score of 18-6. The contest consisted of five events including the 100 free, 100 fly, 100 back, 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley. Total times in the five swims determined individual placings with the top three finishers from each school scoring points (9-5-4-3-2-1).
Freshman Frida Berggren, the overall individual champion, proved to be the meet's most consistent performer over the five events as she garnered two first-place (100 fly, 200 IM), one second (100 breast) and a pair of fifth-place (100 back, 100 free) finishes. Her wins came with times of 58.08 in the 100 butterfly and 2:08.99 in the 200 individual medley.
Berggren's total time over the five events was 6:10.88 as she finished just under two seconds ahead of fellow Aztecs Chelsea Bailey (2nd - 6:12.43) and Anika Apostalon (3rd - 6:12.63). SDSU senior Mikaela Macklin, who had won the Pentathlon vs. USD each of the past two seasons, placed fourth with a total time of 6:15.80.
SDSU WINS PACIFIC INVITATIONAL
The San Diego State swimming team captured 13 of 17 events over two days as it captured the team title at the Pacific Invitational held Oct. 18-19. In the process the Aztecs finished with a team score of 1,072 points. Host Pacific finished second with 911 points with UC Davis (which only swam on Saturday) totaling 565 points.
SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
Anika Apostalon earned Mountain West Swimmer of the Week honors for competition from Oct. 14-22, 2013, after leading SDSU at the Pacific Invitational. During the two-day meet she won the 50-yard (23.52) and 100-yard (51.19) free races, along with the 100-yard (56.51) and 200-yard (2:03.20) back events. Her mark in the 50 free ranks as the fifth-fastest in school history while her mark in the 100 free is the 10th-best ever by an Aztec swimmer. Apostalon also swam on three winning relays - 200-yard medley (1:46.00), 200-yard freestyle (1:36.51) and 400-yard freestyle (3:33.43).
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
San Diego State completed its fourth consecutive undefeated home season during its 2012-13 campaign with a 4-0 record. The Aztecs have now won their last 31 consecutive meets at home. SDSU's record at the Aztec Aquaplex stands at 42-3 since the facility opened for the 2007-08 season.
SCHOOL RECORD SETTERS RETURN
A trio of athletes who currently hold San Diego State swimming & diving records are back for the 2013-14 season. That list includes swimmers Chelsea Baily (100 free - 49.70) and Mikaela Macklin (200 IM - 1:57.73 and 400 IM - 4:11.15) along with senior diver Anna Steiner (1-Meter - 317.30).
TOP 10 AZTEC TIMES
In addition to the school records set during the 2012-13 season, SDSU returnees turned in a total of 22 individual swim times that enter the school record book among the top 10 all-time fastest marks in school history. There were also eight diving marks recorded by returning Aztec divers that rank among the top 10 ever at San Diego State,
TOP 2013-14 CONFERENCE TIMES
Two SDSU swimmers currently hold the Mountain West' season top times after one month of competition. Freshman Caroline Mitchel has recorded the league's top mark in the 1,650 freestyle at 17:08.39. In addition, senior Mikaela Macklin has the conference's tops times in both the 200 IM (2:08.77) and 400 IM (4:22.41)
Anika Apostalon has the second-best mark among Mountain West swimmers this season in both the 50 freestyle (23.52) and 100 freestyle (51.19). She also ranks third in the 10 backstroke (56.51) and 200 back stroke (2:03.20.
UP NEXT
The SDSU swimmers will next be in action during the weekend of Nov. 21-23 when they participate in the annual Arena Invitational to be held at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, Calif. The meet draws the top teams from the western U.S. and is one of the early season's top invitational events. The Aztec divers will see their first multi-team action of the season that same weekend when they compete at the Arizona Diving Invitational Nov. 22.24. That meet is hosted by the University of Arizona at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center in Tucson, Ariz.