'Roo Swimming Closes Strong at SCAC Meet

GARLAND, Texas - The Austin College men's and women's swim teams finished strong at the 2025 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships at the Garland ISD Natatorium, with multiple program records falling over the course of the week as well as a plethora of new personal bests. The women finished the meet in fifth place with 266 points, while the men placed sixth with 253 points.

Lola Barcus-Schafer earned the first points of the day for Austin College, placing 10th in the women's 200 backstroke with a time of 2:20.07, and Reese Richmond finished 13th in that event with a time of 2:28.12. Colin Stewart found his way onto the podium on the men's side in that event, placing seventh with a time of 1:57.54, less than half a second behind the sixth place finisher and just under a second behind fifth.

Kamil Murugan established a new program record while finishing 11th in a highly competitive men's 100 freestyle event, touching the wall with a time of 47.18 to mark the best time in 'Roo men's swimming history, while the 'Roo women got 11th place points in the 200 breaststroke from Lexy Hulse, who clocked a time of 2:34.51 in the event.

Theo Rogers earned 12th place points in the men's 200 breaststroke, finishing with a time of 2:14.44, and Izzy Schultze landed on the podium in the women's 200 butterfly with an eighth place time of 2:43.72. Preston Fiala just missed out on a spot in the men's 200 butterfly finals, coming in 10th with a time of 2:03.92.

The Austin College women's 400 free relay team of Barcus-Schafer, Cassidee Levine, Tatyana Arizmendi, and Hulse placed seventh with a time of 3:50.67, just .05 seconds off of the sixth place finishers, and the men's quartet of Fiala, Stewart, Alex Lai, and Kamil Murugan earned fourth place on the men's side with a time of 3:13.17. Earlier in the day, Lai also turned in one of the fastest 50 freestyle performances in program history in time trials, touching with a time of 21.56.