Falcon swimming teams rank 4th, 9th at Speedo Cup

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LONG BEACH, Calif. (AFPN) --  The Air Force Academy men’s and women’s swimming teams are at fourth and ninth, respectively, after the first day of competition at the 2004 University of California-Irvine Speedo Cup here.

Led by Chris Knaute’s performance in the 500-yard freestyle, the men’s team sits in fourth place with 221 points. Knaute’s time of 4 minutes, 25.61 seconds was a personal best and the second-fastest in Air Force Academy history.

Knaute shaved more than 10 seconds off his season best to finish fifth in the event. Matt Karmondy followed at 17th with a 4:45.67 in the finals and prelim of 4:43.88.

Air Force had strong performances by Justin Lapin and Paul Parmenter in the 200 individual medley. Lapin, who made his 2004 debut, placed fifth with a 1:53.27 in the finals and prelim of 1:52.57. Parmenter followed up with a sixth-place finish at 1:53.57.

In the 50 free, Ryan Moss and T.J. Cowling finished 10th and 11th. Moss swam a 23.45 second finals and prelim of 21.38. Cowling swam a 23.73 in the finals and 21.65 in the prelims.

The Falcon men trail Stanford University (492), Brigham Young University (283) and University of California-San Diego (271) and are ahead of five other schools.

Lauren White was the top Falcon woman finisher, taking 12th in the 500-yard freestyle at 5:00.21. Her sister, Julienne White, followed up in 21st at 5:06.59.

Colleen Smith also swam for Air Force, placing 21st in the 200 individual medley at 2:09.93, which is the 10th fastest time in academy women’s swimming history.

Team captain Andrea Hyma had the fastest time for the Falcons in the 50 free, placing 35th with a season-best time of 24.81.

The three-day meet runs through Nov. 20.