With rival Denison University taking an early lead at the 2006 North Coast Athletic Conference swimming and diving championship, the defending champion Kenyon College Lords looked for a spark Thursday night. It came quickly in the form of a record-breaking swim from senior Andrejs Duda.

After Denison won the championship-opening 200-yard freestyle relay, Kenyon responded with an individual win in the next event, as freshman Eric Dunn won the 500-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 4:34.61. Right after Dunn’s win, Duda sliced through the competition in the 200-yard individual medley. He finished the race in a conference record time of 1:51.36, erasing the old mark of 1:52.43 set by Kenyon’s Marc Courtney-Brooks during the 2004 championship. Duda’s time was also an NCAA automatic qualifying time and was the best time posted by a Division III swimmer this season.

In the final event of the evening, Duda helped the Lords’ 400-yard medley relay team to a first-place finish in 3:28.67. Joining Duda on that team were sophomore Tom Irgens, junior Joey Gosselar, and sophomore Josh Mitchell.

The Lords wound up winning three of the five events contest on the first day of the three-day championship. Their efforts netted a total of 508 team points, and pushed them well ahead of second-place Denison, which checked out with 429 team points. Wabash was third with 251 points.

For the women, winning four of the first five events contested in the three-day North Coast Athletic Conference swimming and diving championship, the Kenyon College Ladies looked like a well-oiled machine Thursday night. When the splashing stopped, Kenyon totaled 444 team points, which was 71 points more than second-place Denison University.

The championship heats began with a young Kenyon quartet taking the title in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The group, which clocked in at 1:36.14, included freshmen Elizabeth Carlton, Jessica Wise, and Brittany Hurd, as well as sophomore Allison Johnson. The Ladies’ time was not only good enough to win the race, but was the best time turned in by a Division III relay team this year.

In the next event, KC junior Rebecca Allison outlasted the competition with a winning time of 5:01.65 in the 500-yard freestyle. Her time was a personal best this season and cleared the automatic qualifying mark for entry into the NCAA Division III championship.

Carlton later resurfaced in the 50-yard freestyle to turn in a season-best time of 24.03 seconds in the preliminary heats. She was a bit slower (24.23) in the championship final, but still managed to win the event. Wise was not far behind, as she placed third with a time of 24.33. Both Ladies’ times met the NCAA ‘B’ qualifying standard.

In the night’s final event, Carlton made another winning appearance. This time she anchored the Ladies’ triumphant 400-yard medley relay team, which clocked in with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 3:53.89. Jessica Connors, Jennie Miller, and Danielle Korman joined Carlton in taking the title.

In the only event Kenyon did not win, the 200-yard individual medley, the team placed three swimmers within the top five finishers and all turned in times that cleared the NCAA ‘B’ cut. That trio of KC swimmers included Connors, who placed second, Miller, who placed fourth, and Kara Stiles, who was fifth.