In her first event of the competition, Kaitlin Sandeno (Lake Forest, Calif./USC) won gold in the women's 200m I.M., setting a Universiade record in 2:12.13. The men’s 400m free relay team of Matthew McGinnis (Raleigh, N.C./Texas), Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill./Northwestern), Bryan Lundquist (Marietta, Ga./Auburn) and Adam Ritter (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Arizona) also won gold with their Universiade record-setting swim of 3:16.06
“This is my first international competition, my first international race. So, to win a medal – especially a gold medal – in the first race is awesome. And, to share it with three other guys from my country just makes it that much sweeter,” said Ritter. “We accomplished our goal. We wanted to go about the time that we did – about 3:16. The Pan Am team that represented the U.S. about a month ago put up some really good times. And, our goal was to beat those and show that we’re also a good team.”
In the men’s 800m free, Chad LaTourette (Mission Viejo, Calif./Stanford) posted a Universiade record time of 7:49.90 to capture gold in his first World University Games appearance. Andrea Hupman (Lawrenceville, Ga./Northwestern) took home her second medal of the Games with her swim in the 100m free, earning silver in 55.36. Hupman won her first medal of the competition as part of the U.S. women's winning 400m free relay team.
Other members of Team USA also turned in strong performances Friday. Alicia Aemisegger (Oreland, Pa./Princeton) finished fourth in the 200m I.M. (2:14.51), Lauren English (Lincoln Park, N.J./Georgia) finished eighth in the 50m back (29.31), and Erin Reilly (Sacramento, Calif./UC Berkeley) finished seventh in the 100m fly in 59.95.
Swimming competition at the World University Games continues Saturday with the women’s 400m free, 200m breast, and 800m free relay, and the men's 100m breast, 50m back, 100m free, and 200m I.M. Preliminary competition begins at 9:30 a.m. local time and evening finals start at 5:30 p.m. local time.
About USA Swimming: As the National Governing Body for competitive swimming in the United States, USA Swimming formulates the rules, implements policies and procedures, conducts national championships, disseminates safety and sports medicine information and selects athletes to represent the United States in international competition. USA Swimming has more than 300,000 members nationwide and sanctions more than 7,000 events each year. For more information, visit USA Swimming on-line.
