OCALA, Fla. — Gabby Darakchieva made Gyrene history in the Sun Conference Swim Championships, becoming the first ever swimmer to take home a gold medal. In just their fourth year as a swim program, the Gyrenes finally have a first place finish in the Conference championships.
Darakchieva won the 100 yard backstroke final on the second day of competition. The junior from Bulgaria had been around a minute all season long in the 100 backstroke, cracking 60 seconds just once in the Small College Championships in Georgia. In the Sun Conference final, Darakchieva knew she would have to beat a minute for a chance at a medal.
After the first 50 yards, Darakchieva was in fourth behind three other swimmers with an opening split of 27.86. Off the touch to begin the last 50 yards, Darakchieva sped through the water like a torpedo and closed the gap on all three swimmers in front of her. When she tapped the touchpad to end the race, Darakchieva clocked in with a time of 57.53 and won the first gold medal in Ave Maria history. Darakchieva beat out the second place swimmer by two tenths of second, posting a split of 29.67 in the final 50 yards. Her time of 57.53 is also a new school record and a personal best.
Ave Maria took home one more medal in the Championships, this one on the men's side in the 4x200 freestyle relay. On the first day of competition, the Gyrene A team, composed of Eli Pelzer, Michael Blawas, Sam Pilkington and Lucas Thomaz, swam a strong race, posting a time of 6:57.90. The Gyrenes beat out the Life Running Eagles for a spot on the podium by three hundredths of a second.
AMU was behind Life by just under a second heading into the fourth and final swimmers of the relay. However, anchor Pilkington closed the game in the first 25 yards and held on to secure third place for Ave Maria.
Ave Maria took home one more honor over the weekend with head coach Giordan Harris winning Coach of the Year on the women's side. It is the first honor for Harris at the Conference level in his second year at Ave Maria.
Within the program, there were 14 new school records set in the championship. The women's team set 11 new school records, six in individual races and five in team relays. Darakchieva had the most new school records at two, in the 100 yard backstroke and 50 yard backstroke. The men set three, all in individual races by three different swimmers.
Individually, the Gyrenes had 50 personal bests set in the Championships, evenly split with 25 on the women's side and 25 on the men's side. Nicole Tsai led the women with three personal bests, swimming her best times in the 50 yard freestyle, 100 yard freestyle and 200 yard freestyle. On the men's side, Justin Blaine led the team with six personal best times in the 50 yard backstroke, 100 yard backstroke, 200 yard backstroke, 200 yard butterfly, 200 yard individual medley and the 400 yard individual medley.
As a team, the women finished fourth out of nine teams at the end of the Championships with 310 points. Keiser took home the top placement with 999.5 points. The men finished in seventh place out of nine with 246.5 points. Again, Keiser was the first place team with 915 points.
