Junior Max Fabian (Keene, N.H./Oak Meadow) and rookie Joanna Murphy (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview High School) rewrote the Brandeis record book this weekend at the University Athletic Association Swimming & Diving Championships. The duo combined to set new benchmarks in five different distance events, part of numerous impressive individual performances by Brandeis swimmers at the meet. Both Fabian and Murphy broke records in the 500-meter and 1650-meter races. Fabian also lowered his own mark in the 1000.
The UAA Championships were altered this year because weather prevented several teams from reaching Atlanta, where Emory hosted. A satellite meet was held at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. The meet includes Case, the University of Chicago and the University of Rochester, and will not conclude until later today. Because of the delay, final UAA results will not be available until tomorrow.
Fabian set a new school record in the 500 in the preliminaries, then lowered it in the final. His time of 4:43.23 in prelims was one second faster than the old Brandeis record and qualified him for the "B" final. The junior turned in a 4:42.76 in the final.
Like he did at UAAs a year ago, Fabian killed two birds with one stone, breaking both the 1000 and 1650 in the same swim. Fabian swam the 1650 in 16:10.36, 3.47 seconds faster than the record that he set one year ago. The 1000 split time is recorded during the mile, and Fabian's time of 9:49.54 was nearly two seconds faster than his mark last year. He was more than six seconds under the NCAA B Standard time, leaving an outside chance that Fabian will be selected for the NCAA Championships
In her first individual event, Murphy obliterated a nine-year old record in the 500. She swam a 5:10.17 in the preliminary run, easily surpassing Sharon Makowsky's '06 mark of 5:14.51. Murphy was even better in the final, finishing in 5:04.95. She had the eighth-fastest time in Atlanta and finished second in the "B" final.
Murphy was possibly even more impressive in the 1650, shattering a 15-year old record by more than 17 seconds. Murphy timed in at 17:38.05, good for fifth place in Atlanta. It was also an NCAA B Standard time.
Keep an eye out for a full recap tomorrow, which will include team scores and a rundown of personal bests set at the meet.