March 8, 2008
Cambridge, MA - Junior Alex Righi completed his incredible weekend with another first place finish, another three records, and a most outstanding swimmer award to lead the Bulldogs to a third place finish at the EISL Championships Saturday.
After taking first place in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke in the first two days of competition, Righi won first place in the 100-yard freestyle Saturday by topping his own record in the race from last years EISL Championships. Righi broke his own meet and EISL record while also setting the 28-year old Blodgett Pool record held by former Olympian Rowdy Gaines with a time of 42.67 to earn the Bulldogs 32 points in the event. Righi's performance over the weekend earned him the Philip Moriarty Outstanding Meet Swimmer Award.
Senior Jeffrey Licthenstein earned the Karl B. Michael Meet Outstanding Diver Award for his performance over the weekend. Licthtenstein won first place in the 1-meter diving on Thursday and took eighth place in the 3-meter diving Saturday to earn Yale 22 points.
Sophomore Thomas Robinson took third place in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:47.73 to earn Yale 27 points in the event.
In the 200-yard breaststroke, sophomore Craig Steen took fourth place with a time of 2:02.00 to earn Yale 26 points.
Junior Chris Pool finished in fourth place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:47.66 to earn Yale 26 points.
In the 400-yard freestyle, Righi, Pool, Robinson, and freshman Ege Gurdeniz took fifth place to earn the Bulldogs 50 points with a time of 2:59.38.
The Bulldogs concluded the weekend with 925 points. Righi's outstanding performance in the 100-yard freestyle came two nights after he won the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 19.60 and set a triplet of records in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a first leg time of 19.41. Righi also won the 100-yard backstroke on Friday with a time of 47.95.
Report Filed by Steven Horn '10, Yale Sports Publicity