The College of Saint Rose will have a presence for the seventh consecutive year at the
NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships. The 2010 meet is scheduled to run from Wednesday, March 10 through Saturday, March 13 at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, OH.
Freshman
Caitlin Brauer and sophomore
Vadim Yafayev are scheduled to take part in three events apiece. Yafayev is expected to compete in the men’s 200 and 400-yard individual medleys and the 100 backstroke, while Brauer is also expected to swim both the 200 and 400 IM along with the women’s 200 breaststroke.
Brauer is the first female to represent the Golden Knights at the NCAA Championships, while Yafayev is making his second consecutive appearance. He had an outstanding 2009 meet that included an honorable mention All-America performance in the 400 IM at the University of Houston.
More recently, Yafayev was named the men’s Most Valuable Swimmer at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships that were held Friday, February 5 through Sunday, February 7 on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven. Yafayev stood out by setting meet records in the both the 200 and 400 IM throughout the weekend. He reached the NCAA Championship automatic qualifying standard with a meet record 1:53.10 clocking in the 200 IM, and then pulled off the same feat by going 4:02.04 in the 400 IM. Yafayev added to his resume by swimming the 100 backstroke split in a school record 52.03 for the 400 medley relay team during the Metropolitan Conference Championships at Rutgers University two weeks ago.
As for Brauer, her freshman campaign has been nothing short of sensational including being named the Female Rookie of the Meet at the Metropolitan Championships. Brauer, whose older brother Ryan had an All-America performance and two honorable mention All-America swims for the Golden Knights at last year’s championships, established five individual school records throughout the weekend and was furthermore part of three school record setting relay teams.
She twice bettered her own school standard in the 200 breaststroke at that meet. She went a 2:25.33 in a preliminary heat, and then swam a second place time of 2:22.96 in the final session. Also, her 100 breaststroke split of 1:07.86 lowered her school standard in that event. Brauer furthermore reached a pair of championship automatic qualifying standards by breaking her own school records with a 2:07.12 clocking in the 200 IM and a time of 4:31.57 in the 400 IM.
Yafayev and Brauer follow in the footsteps of former Saint Rose stars Brandon Birchak and Matt Kavanagh, along with the aforementioned Ryan Brauer. Birchak won national championships in one and three-meter diving in 2007, and was second in both events the following year. Kavanagh qualified for the NCAA Championships in each of his last three years at Saint Rose and was a three-time All-American as a senior in 2006.