The Shippensburg University swim teams made a splash Tuesday, but fell just short of a victory against Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP).

The men’s team did not get the result it wanted, but has made significant improvement over the past few weeks.

“We’re competing well,” head coach Tim Verge told SU Sports Information. “We’re at a good place and saw lots of improvement.”

Freshman Jeff Beyer had a tremendous meet, winning back-to-back races for the Raiders. Beyer took home gold in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:09.34. He then went on to win in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:47.87. Both of Beyer’s times qualified for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships.

Freshman Christian Gamboa also had a strong performance, finishing second in the 1,000-yard freestyle, and first in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:56.13 — less than a second ahead of Beyer. Both races qualified Gamboa for the PSAC Championships.

The men ended the meet with a split-second victory, as Adam Fox, Kristian Voulopos, Thomas Toscano and Shaun Smith beat the competition by just .03 seconds in the 200-yard relay.

The SU women’s team took home five wins in 11 events against IUP. The team also tied in another event against the Crimson Hawks.

The Raiders finished the meet with 10 swims that qualified for the PSAC Championships, a performance coach Verge was pleased with.

“Mentally, staying through fall break was a challenge. But, they handled it really well and raced really hard,” Verge told SU Sports Information.

Stephanie O’Toole won two back-to-back races just minutes apart from each other before going on to win a third. O’Toole took the 50-yard freestyle, posting a time of 24.46 seconds. She then went on to win the 200-yard individual medley by more than five seconds. This time was good enough to qualify for the PSAC Championships. She also qualified in the 100-yard freestyle and won that event, too.

Erin Fife was able to break the 60-second mark in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 59.97 seconds. This time was just .12 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Fife also collaborated with Carly Alvarado, Grace Tothero and Sidney Owens to tie for first place in the 200-yard medley relay.

Carly Alvarado will join many of her teammates at the PSAC Championships, as she broke the 60-second mark with a time of 59.88 in the backstroke. Her time was enough to win the event and qualify her for the PSAC Championships.

Shippensburg will host its first swim meet of the season, Friday, Oct. 28. The Raiders will take on California University of Pennsylvania and Fairmont State at 5 p.m. at Donald N. Miller pool.

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