KNOXVILLE, TENN - The Gardner-Webb University men's and women's swimming teams opened the 2025 ASUN Championships on Wednesday with a string of impressive results, highlighted by junior Justin Bender who scored an individual championship in the men's 200-yard IM race

Leading the way for the Runnin' Bulldogs on the first day of competition was the Alpharetta, Ga. native, Bender. The junior not only set a new school record in the process, but claimed an individual championship in the men's 200-yard IM race with a time of 1:46.67. Sophomore Dan Bennett also scored a personal record time in the men's 200-yard IM, touching the wall with a time of 1:52.49

The Runnin' Bulldogs also posted personal records across the pool, with 17 Gardner-Webb athletes scoring personal records. Those include sophomore Luke Weber with a 4:29.17, freshman Santiago Alcantara 4:31.23, and senior Noah Seip with a 4:38.38, all in the men's 500 yard freestyle.

The women's 500 yard freestyle also proved to be successful for Gardner-Webb, with senior Emma Maust making the finals, then posting a time of 4:57.25, good enough for a seventh place finish.

Gardner-Webb saw sophomore Jacob Jensen, graduate Samuel Ospina, and freshman Manuel Brander all come away with a new personal records in the men's 50-yard freestyle. Jensen touched the wall with a time of 20.06 seconds for ninth place in the finals, while Ospina set his PR in qualifiers by touching the wall in 21.34 seconds. Brander posted his PR time in the B-final, recording a time of 20.46 seconds.

The women's 50-yard freestyle saw yet another individual record go down, as sophomore Slawka Ndubuisi set a new personal best. In the finals, Ndubuisi posted a time of 22.97 seconds to finish seventh in the A-final.

The ASUN Championships continue tomorrow morning, February 20th at the University of Tennessee and continue through Saturday, February 22nd.