WORCESTER, Mass. -- Sophomore Kyle Swardstrom (Brookline, Mass.) broke his second school record in as many days to lead the Bridgewater State University men's swimming & diving team during the third and final day of the WPI Gompei Invitational.
Swardstrom eclipsed Dave Cangiano's 16-year-old mark in the 100 backstroke as he placed fourth in the event with a time of 54.30 seconds. Swardstrom bettered the previous record of 54.95 seconds set back in 1998.
On Saturday, Swardstrom broke Sean Lucas' 200 backstroke record of 2:00.99 set back in 1994. He recorded a preliminary time of 1:59.20 and finals time of 2:00.15 to place fifth in the event.
Swardstrom also finished fourth in the 50 backstroke with a time of 25.44 seconds, while senior David Elofson (Mansfield, Mass.) placed eighth in the three-meter diving competition with 272.45 points (11 dives).
The Bears' 400 freestyle relay team of Swardstrom, fellow senior Sean Bruno (Easton, Mass.) and freshmen Charles Anderson (Avon, Conn.) and Hunter Goodrich (Stoughton, Mass.) posted a time of 3:26.10 to finish 15th overall, while the 200 medley relay squad of Swardstrom, Anderson, Goodrich and freshman Andrew Hebert (Lincoln, R.I.) also placed 15th with a time of 1:45.88.
Hebert added a time of 2:34.99 in the 200 breaststroke to finish 23rd overall.
Bridgewater placed eighth in the team standings at the three-day meet. Host WPI captured the team title followed by Bentley College in second place and Roger Williams University in third.
"I am extremely pleased with our first half of the season performances," noted BSU skipper Mike Caruso. "It was great to see each of our swimmers post a season-best performance in either an individual or relay event this weekend."
"We really look to take our training up a notch and hope to get even faster for the NEISDA (New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association) Championships in February," added Caruso.
The Bears are off until after the New Year when they host Elms College on Wednesday, January 7th at 4:00 PM.