LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV women's swimming and diving recorded two podium finishes with a pair of second-place medals in the relays to end the first day of the 2021 Mountain West Swimming and Diving Championships in second place with 112 points in the team standings Wednesday at Jim Reitz Pool.
 
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY:
The Rebels battled with San Diego State down to the very end in tightly contested 200 medley and 800 free relay races which saw the Aztecs narrowly edge the Scarlet and Gray relay teams by .52 seconds or less in each race for both championships.
 
With those finishes, UNLV improved upon its third-place finishes in the same two events at last year's conference meet.      
 
THE RUNDOWN – WOMEN:
In the 200 medley relay, the Rebels 'A' squad, comprising Kate Afanasyeva, freshmen Tosia Iwanowska and Sarah Koopmans and senior Caitlyn Schreiber, fought to the brink to finish second within 0.52 seconds of the crowned champion SDSU (1:38.31). Koopman's 23.09 split on the third leg led all but one of the opposing swimmers in the race and helped set up Schreiber in securing second place for UNLV. Their combined time of 1:38:83 placed the Scarlet and Gray quartet into fourth on UNLV's all-time record chart for the event.
 
UNLV's 'A' team of  junior Kristina Schneider, freshman Victoria Gutierrez, junior Julia Filippova and senior Lauren Smith and SDSU's 'A' unit (7:17.38) pushed each other to the final touch once again on the final 25 meters of the 800 free relay, before the Rebels finished just .02 seconds shy of the Aztecs with a time of 7:17.40. Their 800 free relay mark took over the fifth spot on the all-time record list in UNLV program history.

QUOTABLE: "UNLV had the best energy in the house tonight, and our eight relay swimmers really felt that and fed off it. It's a great start to the weekend to be already swimming faster than we were at the 2020 Championships. We are looking forward to getting started with the individual events tomorrow morning." - Head coach Ben Loorz

NEXT FOR THE REBELS: The Rebel women will continue the swimming portion of the MW Championships from Jim Reitz Pool Thursday with prelims at  11 am (PT) and finals at 6:30 pm. UNLV's divers will begin competition Thursday in the 2021 Mountain Diving Championships hosted by Air Force at Cadet Natatorium with prelims at 11 am (PT) and 5 pm (PT).
 
2021 Mountain West Women's Swimming Championships
Jim Reitz Pool at UNLV
Las Vegas, Nevada
& 2021 Mountain West Women's Diving Championships
Cadet Natatorium at Air Force
Air Force Academy, Colorado
Wednesday, February 17
First Day Results
 
Team Scoring
1. San Diego State - 128
2. UNLV - 112
3. UNR - 106
4. Wyoming - 106
5. Fresno State - 100
6. Colorado State - 96
7. San Jose State - 90
8. Air Force- 46
 
Top-Eighth Finishes
200 Medley Relay: 2nd place- 1:38.83 (Kate Afanasyeva, Tosia Iwanowska, Sarah Koopman, Caitlyn Schreiber)
800 Free Relay: 2nd place - 7:17:40 (Kristina Schneider, Victoria Gutierrez, Julia Filippova and Lauren Smith)
 
^-NCAA 'A' Automatic Time
*-NCAA 'B' Provisional Time
~-NCAA Diving Zone Qualifying Score