6-17-2024 4:19am

BENZING BREAKS

BENZING BECOMES FIRST TOWSON SWIMMER TO ADVANCE AT U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS, FINISHES 12TH

INDIANAPOLIS – Towson University swimmer Brian Benzing competed in the 100-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Indianapolis on Saturday.

He was seeded 19th in preliminary heats and finished seventh overall in the morning session with a time of 1:00.16, advancing to the evening session.

In the evening's semifinal session, Benzing finished 12th overall with a time of 1:00.29.

Benzing became the first Towson swimmer to advance past preliminary heats at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials with his seventh-place finish in the morning session.Benzing entered Saturday's 100-meter breaststroke preliminary heats as the 19th seed with a qualifying mark of 1:01.10 from his first-place finish at the USA Swimming Futures Championships in Richmond, Va., last July.

He becomes the tenth Towson swimmer in program history to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, joining Aaron Krause (2004), Melanie Rowland (2012), Jenna Van Camp (2016), Hannah Snyder (2016), Dominic Breschi (2016), Jack Saunderson (2016, 2020), Jacki Schoening (2020), Matthew Essing (2020) and Michael Fazio (2020).

The top 16 finishers in preliminary heats will advance to the evening's finals session. Of that group, the top eight finishers will advance to Sunday evening's 100-meter breaststroke finals.

If Benzing were to advance past preliminary heats, he would be the first Towson swimmer to do so in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in program history.

Benzing capped an illustrious career at Towson this season as the national runner-up in the 100-yard breaststroke (SCY) at the NCAA Championships, a four-time CAA Men's Swimmer of the Year, three-time CAA Championships Men's Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet and four-time individual Coast Athletic Association (CAA) record holder.