By: Tayler Adigun (@Ohdangitstayler)
On February 14, the Howard University, men and women, swim team broke two school records in one day at the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Championship in Athens, Georgia under the coaching of Nicholas Askew.
Kasandra Kaplan a junior sports medicine major from Detroit, Mi, broke her own previous record of 2:07.98 with a 2:06.13. Kaplan was very proud of her success and enjoys seeing her hard work in practices pay off during meets.
“I train so hard to be able to see it pay off at a conference. To know that I left it all in the pool and I continue to improve is such an amazing feeling,” Kaplan told The Hilltop. With this being her second year holding the title she has definitely set the bar for Howard swim and use the standards she has set as motivation to go even harder. “ The best part about being a record holder is that it pushes me to continue to make my times faster.”.
The 200-medley relay broke the previous Howard record by a second and a half with a time of 1:32.33. This relay was composed of Don Brazelton, Sidrell Williams, Alexander Barnes and William Smith.
This led to the Bison closing in day one of the championship with five current record holders.
The other 200-medley relay participants also preformed impressively this week, posting a time of 1:34:67, which is the fourth-fastest time in Howard’s history.
The relay team consisted of Devin Guardino, Maalik Nixon, Kegan Ford and Farion Cooper.
Sophomore Kegan Ford shared what it took to get to where they are.
“There have been many early mornings and late nights but I thank God I have a team like this to push through the pain” Ford said. “There is a lot to be said for a team that has produced 10 new record holders this year alone, this success however was not without sacrifice.”
“It has been a tough season and with everything we have been through I think the success is well deserved,” shared Kaplan
