Garr, Garcia Smash Records In Loss To Coast Guard

New London, Conn. - Sophomore sensations Ryan Garr (Kingston, R.I.) and Eileen Garcia (New York, N.Y.) continued to re-write record books at Clark and at pools all around New England as the two Cougar teammates were the shining stars in a dual meet loss to NEWMAC rival Coast Guard on Saturday afternoon.

Garr, who broke a 23-year old Holy Cross pool record at the Worcester City Championships en route to Swimmer of the Meet accolades last week, shattered the Coast Guard pool record in the 100 backstroke (53.20) and the 200 backstroke (1:54.04) - a mark that stood for 15 years. In the process, he qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive season in the 200 backstroke.

Garcia, meanwhile, had one of the best diving performances on the three-meter board in the country this season. She smashed her own record of 299.65 with a mind-boggling 303.90, erasing the pool record as well. She is just the fourth woman in Division III this season to break 300 and is the only diver with two performances that rank in the top five this season. Garcia also becomes the first male or female to top 300 in Clark history.

On the one-meter board, she turned in a school-record performance 281.25, erasing the mark established by Hall of Famer Beth Ferraro from the Class of 1988, placing her name in front of all four diving records in the Clark record books.

The Bears defeated the Cougar men 182-115 and they handed the Clark women their first dual meet loss, 165-135, dropping them to 7-1.

Both teams are back in action on Wednesday when they host crosstown rival WPI in their final home meet of the season.