AUBURN, Ala. – Two top-10 swims punctuated a strong start to the Last Chance Invite for head coach Ryan Wochomurka and the Auburn Tigers. Both Elizaveta Klevanovich and Audrey Crawford etched themselves in the Auburn record book and inched closer to a spot at next month’s NCAA Championships.
In the morning session, Henry Bethel managed a season-best time, dialing up a 52.19 in the 100 breast. His finals swim, however, was over a half-second faster at 51.62, representing the 14th-fastest swim ever in program history.
Senior Michael Bonson was pacing well halfway through his 500 free. Ultimately, the Louisiana native produced a 4:15.06.
It was Klevanovich, though, who made the loudest noise in the 100 free. Her 48.00 moved her over fellow Russian Polina Nevmovenko for the seventh-fastest performer in school history.
On the men’s side, freshman River Paulk found himself a sub-43 second time for the first time in his career at 42.99.
Fellow rookie Audrey Crawford was already the fifth-fastest performer in the 200 breast after last week’s SEC Championships. On Friday, the Indiana native jumped Hannah Ownbey for the No. 4 spot, dialing up a 2:08.93.
The Last Chance Invite continues on Saturday at 10 a.m. CT. Finals are slated for 3 p.m. CT. Live results will be available through Meet Mobile.