Jan. 5, 2004

Complete Results

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men and women's swimming team has been turning the gloomy skies of winter into their own form of sunshine and happiness. The Panthers, competing in sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Florida during the winter break, continued to build on a solid first-half of the season by taking the victory on both sides in the Bob Mowerson Time Trials on Monday Afternoon. The men, who placed third in their last meet, claimed a victory with 232 team points. The women, who have been as hot as the Florida sun, have not finished lower than first since October 26, 2003 and continued their dominance with a convincing first place finish, scoring 269 team points.

The Panther men came away with seven top-three finishes in the meet. Michael Belting claimed first in the 400-meter freestyle by finishing with a time of 4:19.48. Freshman Dana Elzea finished in third. Josh Baseheart swam away with a win in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 54.89. Tim Watt and Adam Steffes claimed second and third behind Baseheart. In the 50-meter backstroke, Ryan Frohmader swam his way to a top finish with a time of 31.02. Justin O'Keefe finished in third with a time of 31.79.

The Panther women swam away with six top-3 finishes on the day. Jen Kedinger paced the way with a victory in the 400-meter freestyle, finishing with a time of 4:47.14. Teammate Amanda Schmitt finished right behind Kedinger with a time of 4:47.66. Julie Olson claimed the win in the 50-meter backstroke, swimming a time of 32.56. Freshman Lindsay Caldwell swam away with the victory in the 100-meter freestyle, finishing with a time of 1:01.88. Her sister, Sarah Caldwell placed second in the 50-meter breaststroke while Heather Sawatzki claimed second-place in the 50-meter butterfly.

"Our team came into the afternoon meet off of a very intense morning practice and performed extremely well," Panther head coach Dave Clark said. "Both our men and women are really showing a positive form of competitiveness and are trying to make each other better in every event and it's been showing."

The Panther swimming and diving team will return to Milwaukee next week and will begin preparation for the Bill Ritter Memorial Invite. The event will be held at the Klotsche Center Pool on Friday January 23 and will conclude on January 24.