Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG — This past weekend, the Hokies broke an incredible 24 pool records at their dual meets. Friday saw a collective 19 records broken by the men’s and women’s teams at Queens, the program added five more at home in its meet against South Carolina on Saturday.
For their successful weekend, Carles Coll Marti and Carmen Weiler Sastre earned ACC Swimmer of the Week honors.
Friday vs. Queens:
The women took down nine pool records, starting with the meet's opening race. In the 200 medley relay, Carmen Weiler Sastre, Emily Santos, Athena Meneses Kovacs and Emily Claesson swam a 1:38.94, breaking the standing record of 1:40.17 set by UNC in 2021.
Delaney Bookstein then broke Queens’ swimmer Rebecca Daney’s pool record of 16:53.05 with her own 16:37.57 in the 1650 freestyle, earning her first place.
Weiler Sastre put on a show as she broke pool records in each of her individual races. Adding onto the 200 medley relay, she set the 100 free and 200 free records. Weiler Sastre cleared the 49.22 standing record in the 100 free with her time of 49.13. Swimming a 1:46.30 200 free, she also broke the 2015 pool record of 1:48.09.
The fifth pool record to be broken came from Emma Atkinson’s 100 back. Logging a 53.40, she broke UNC’s Greer Pattinson’s 53.60 record. Atkinson followed that up by breaking the 1:56.36 record in the 200 back as well, swimming a 1:56.28.
Santos squeezed by the standing 100 breast pool record of 1:01.80 set by Katie Meili, swimming a 1:01.79 for the team's seventh record. She also posted a program sixth-best time in the 200 breast with her 2:13.66.
Kate Anderson kept the momentum up with a 4:49.88 500 free, breaking the pool record of 4:50.67. Emily Claesson recorded another record-breaking swim in the 100 fly, breaking the pool record set in 2020 by Kayla Tennant (54.37).
On the men's side, 10 records were taken over by the Hokies. The men's 200 medley relay was the first record to go down, broken by Youssef Ramadan, Carles Coll Marti, William Hayon and Brendan Whitfield with a 1:24.18. It set a program 10th-best time.
Lee Naber easily broke the 1650 free pool record of 15:21.52, set in 2022, with his swim of 15:13.23. Luis Dominguez swam a 1:33.94 200 free, breaking Alex Kunerts record of 1:35.35.
Mario Molla Yanes took first place in the 200 backstroke, setting the pool record with his 1:43.53. Ramadan took home first place in the 100 free (41.95) and 100 fly (45.20), breaking pool records in each race.
Coll Marti had an outstanding day as he took three individual top finishes and set three individual pool records. In the 100 breast, he swam a 51.46, breaking the previous record of 52.66. Coll Marti then logged a 1:50.53 in the 200 breast, breaking the pool record he had set back in 2023. His final record of the day was set in the 200 IM, swimming a 1:42.70 that passed the standing record of 1:48.22.
The 200 free relay team, consisting of Ramadan, Whitfield, Hayon and Tanish George Mathew, swam a 1:17.84, breaking the previous record set by Tech in 2019, which stood at 1:19.83.
“I am very excited about the way that our swimmers swam against Queens,” head coach Sergio Lopez Miro said. “The times that we posted – there were so many pool records. They were very fast for us at this part of the season, and with the winter training that we are doing, it's a good sign to hopefully keep moving forward. Some of the records at Queens were held by some very fast teams in the relays, like UNC, or even swimmers that have been Olympians, so the times for us were very good.”
Saturday vs. South Carolina:
While the Hokie women may not have set any new records, they certainly helped to rewrite the record book. Kate Anderson (9:52.36) and Sydney Starnes (9:59.39) set new program fifth-best and 10th-best times in the 1000 free, respectively. Santos surpassed her time from the Queens meet to set the program's fifth-best time in the 200 breast with her 2:12.96.
The men's team went to work, taking down five Christiansburg Aquatic Center records on the day.
The 400 free relay team consisting of Whitfield, Ramadan, Dominguez and Molla Yanes put up a 2:48.84 time, breaking the standing record of 2:49.66 set by Tech’s A team back in 2022. The squad’s time put them at the eighth best in program history. The 200 medley relay set the program's seventh-highest time with their 1:23.69, thanks to Ramadan, Coll Marti, Hayon and Whitfield.
Ramadan broke his own 2023 record of 45.48 in the 100 back, surpassing it with a time of 45.10. Molla Yanes also set the program's sixth-best time in the 200 backstroke, swimming a 1:41.56.
Coll Marti broke three pool records, all having previously been set by him. The first to go was the 100 breast record of 51.50, with Coll Marti posting a new record of 51.00. Next was the 200 breast, where he recorded a 1:50.88, easily clearing his old time of 1:52.82. The 200 IM was Coll Marti’s final race of the day, where he set the new record at 1:43.55 breaking his previous record set in 2023 (1:43.56).
“In our pool, we had five pool records the next day, and that was very exciting too,” Lopez Miro said. “Our pool records are pretty fast and to be able to put five new pool records is good. If we look at somebody who broke a couple records, three of them actually, Carles Coll Marti. For him, going 1:50.88 in the 200 breaststroke and 51.00 in the 100 breaststroke consistently, I think he's gone 1:50.45 five times so far this season, it's a very good sign for ACCs and NCAAs and all that. I am very excited about the pool records, I think what I am most excited for is to see that the team is moving in the right direction and even during winter training we are able to surpass. Go Hokies!”
Accolades:
Following their immense success over the weekend in both dual meets, Weiler Sastre and Coll Marti took home ACC Swimmer of the Week honors.
For Weiler Sastre, this honor marks her first of the season. She left the Queens dual meet holding pool records in all three of her races, and swimming all NCAA ‘B’ cut times. Against South Carolina, Weiler Sastre took home first-place finishes in all four of her races, again posting NCAA ‘B’ cut times.
For Coll Marti, he earned his third ACC Swimmer of the Week honor of the season. At Queens, he took home pool records in all four races he competed in. Against South Carolina, he swam an NCAA ‘A’ cut time of 51.00 in the 100 breast, placing him fifth in the country. His 200 breast and 200 IM earned him NCAA B-cuts and first-place finishes.