SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - In their 2014-15 season opener, the UCSB men's swimming team dueled USC to a 152-107 finish with the Trojans finishing on top. Additionally, ten new swimmers made their Gaucho debuts today.
The powerhouse "A" and "B" relays of USC beat out the Gauchos "A" relay, despite a strong anchor freestyle swim by Lukas Paulauskas (20.93).
Senior Wade Allen (1:40.75) racked up 12 points for the Gauchos today, beginning with a second place finish in the 200 free. Chase Lemley (1:42.27) also scored some UCSB points, placing fourth in the event.
Andy Castilleja fought for first in the 100 breaststroke with his 57.90 mark, but was edged out by Trojan Steven Stumph who finished at 56.98.
Mickey Mowry dominated the 200 fly in the first Gaucho win of the day, coming in at 1:48.06. Freshmen Chris Nolan (1:51.09) and Kevin Mendoza (1:55.37) took third and fourth in the event.
Trojan men Dylan Carter (20.88) and Maclin Davis (21.25) took one-two in the 50 free, with UCSB's Chase Lemley (21.43), Lukas Paulauskas (21.59), and Chris Dotson (21.66) following closely behind.
Wade Allen (45.89) kept up with the dominant USC freestylers with a second place finish in the 100 free.
Freshman Billy Mullis scored his first Gaucho points in the 200 back today, placing fourth with a 1:53.59.
In the 200 breaststroke, UCSB's Castilleja and USC's Jonah Hu both touched with a 2:05.50 earning them each a second place finish for their team.
Andrew Barmann (4:39.11) took third in the 500 free behind Pawel Furtek (4:32.62) and Jason O'Brien (4:38.84) of USC.
Sophomore Yoessef Tibazi (49.01) finished first in the 100 fly, with Mickey Mowry (49.29 and Trojan Maclin Davis (49.28) battling it out for second in a tight race.
USC had a strong 400 IM line-up, with Cary Wright (4:02.67), Steven Stumph (4:06.93), and Scott Clausen (4:07.81) taking the top three spots in the event. Freshman Gabe Bolender (4:14.97) finished 4th in his first 400 IM as a Gaucho.
UCSB's "A" relay, consisting of Chase Lemley, Kevin Moore, Lukas Paulauskas, and Wade Allen took second in the 400 Free relay, finishing just .70 seconds ahead of USC's "B" relay.
The men will be back in the pool in two weeks when they host Cal Poly at Campus Pool on Saturday Nov. 1. Next Saturday, the UCSB women's team battles UCLA and BYU in a three-way duel at Campus Pool.
