SALISBURY, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb swimming team opened its 2025-26 season on Saturday afternoon, with a string of good individual results on the road at Catawba College

For the Runnin' Bulldogs, sophomore Agustin Orechia won the men's 100 yard backstroke to open the season. Orechia posted a time of 49.82 seconds with a 25.59 split, while junior Carter Redelman placed third for GWU with a 50.33 second time and 25.81 split

Orechia was back in action in the men's 200 yard backstroke, also scoring another win as he paced the Gardner-Webb men. Orechia came in nearly a second ahead of second place with a winning time of 1:49.68

In the women's 100 yard breaststroke, sophomore Dakota Townley picked up where she left off last season, winning the event with a time of 1:05.51 and with splits of 30.81 seconds and 34.70 seconds

GWU posted wins in both the men's and women's edition of the 200 yard butterfly. In the men's race, sophomore Santiago Alacantara touched the wall in 1:50.50 for the win, while freshman Jenna Valentine did so in the women's race with a time of 2:08.76. Alacantara competed in the men's 1000 yard freestyle in the day, coming second with a time of 9:34.37

The women's 50 yard freestyle went the way of the Dawgs, with junior Slawka Ndubuisi scoring a win. Ndubuisi touched the wall in a blistering 23.43 seconds, out-touching her opponent from Catawba in second place by just 0.12 seconds

Freshman Madison Richardson began her Gardner-Webb and college career in fine fashion with a win in the women's 200 yard IM race. Richardson finished 1-2 with Gardner-Webb teammate sophomore Kaitlyn Estes, with the duo posting times of 2:10.99 and 2:11.98 respectively

Sophomore Jacob Jensen was among the top finishers in the men's 50 yard freestyle, posting a lightning-quick time of 21:09 and finishing just half a second off the top spot

GWU posted two solid results in relay races, with the men's 200 yard medley team and women's 200 yard relay teams coming each in second. For the men's race, it was the quartet of sophomore Manuel Brandner, senior Justin Bender, Jensen and Redelman recording a time of 1:31.02. Then in the women's race, Townley, Ndubuisi, sophomore Jillian Hawkins, and senior Hannah Routh touched the wall in 1:46.22

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Gardner-Webb returns to action on October 10th and 11th at UNC Wilmington