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A handful of UB swimmers - mostly from the men's team, but a few women as well - spent this past weekend competing in Greensboro, NC, at the inaugural USA Swimming Futures Championships. Open to any swimmer who had never posted a qualifying time for the USA National Championships, the Futures Championships in theory were designed to provide a place for swimmers attempting to qualify for Junior Nationals, but the entry requirements made no issue of age, so long as an entrant was fast enough, but not too fast, and so to some degree they exist as a high-level amateur meet.
All told, even though a small number of their swimmers competed for their home clubs, UB finished 9th in the team scoring on the weekend. Buffalo did particularly well in the freestyle springs, and saw a number of Bulls post high finishes in multiple events:
Men's 50 free: Antonio Lanzi - 1st (23.47)
Durrence - 5th (23.87)
John Ekas - 6th (23.93)
Carroll - 16th (24.70)
Jensen - 19th (24.56)
Cole-Goins, Leigh, and Zyniecki all also competed.
Women's 100 breaststroke
Cristina Czyrka competed, but did not place in the A, B, or C final.
Men's 100 butterfly: Andrew Cole-Goins - 5th (56.55)
Hudson Carroll - 21st (57.65)
Martin Leigh also competed.
Men's 100 breaststroke
Ekas and Jensen entered, but did not reach the A, B, or C finals.
Men's 100 freestyle: Lanzi - 4th (52.34)
Durrence - 8th (53.28)
Jensen - 10th (53.16)*
Leigh - 11th (53.27)*
Ekas also competed.
*Jensen and Leigh posted slower qualifying times in the prelims than Durrence, and could not finish higher than 9th overall from the B Final, while Durrence could drop no lower than 8th from the A Final.
Men's 100 backstroke: Carroll - 4th (58.10)
Women's 100 backstroke and 200 IM
Alexis Valedon competed, but did not make a final
Men's 200 IM: Patrum - 10th (2:09.13)
Liddiard - 21st (2:08.71)
Andrew Cole-Goins reached, but was DQ'ed in the B final.
Women's 200 breaststroke: Czyrka - 5th (2:40.27)
Alexis Valedon - 21st (2:47.27)
Men's 200 backstroke: Barry - 17th (2:07.54)
Ekas and Carroll also competed.
Men's 200 freestyle: Antonio Lanzi - 3rd (1:53.80)
Billy Patrum - 5th (1:54.38)
Martin Leigh - 14th (1:56.55)
Eric Jensen - 17th (1:56.03)
Aaron Durrence also competed.
Men's 400 IM: Barry - 2nd (4:28.38)
Patrum - 7th (4:35.86)
Reid Zyniecki and Calum Liddiard also competed.
Men's 400 freestyle: Patrum - 16th (4:12.31)
Zyniecki and Barry also competed.
Liddiard - 29th (8:46.63)
Barry and Patrum also competed.
Men's 1500 freestyle: Callum Liddiard - 30th (16:43.77)
Charles Barry and Reid Zyniecki also competed.
***
None of these times are really close to what UB manages in-season, but it's good to see Bulls in competition staying sharp. It's also worth noting that UB Swimming alum Eric Culver had a big weekend himself, finishing fourth in the 1500 free, eighth in the 200 fly, and winning the 800 free.
Go Bulls