Waves swim and dive athletes nab Athlete of the Week statuses

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Pepperdine diver Amanda Wong was one of three swim and dive athletes, along with swimmers Charli Sunahara and AJ Adams, to win Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference Athlete of the Week honors this month. Photo by Roger Horne.

A trio of Pepperdine Waves women’s swimming and diving team members were named Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference athletes of the week this month. 

Swimmers Charli Sunahara and AJ Adams and diver Amanda Wong, all freshmen, garnered the weekly honor due to their performances in Pepperdine’s season-opening loss to San Diego State and the team’s first-place finish in the second annual Rodionoff Invitational, and two wins over Cal State East Bay. All the competitions were in the Waves’ home pool. 

Sunahara was the top-finishing Division I swimmer in two events at the Oct. 7-8 Rodionoff Invitational. She won the 200 IM in 2 minutes and 11.64 seconds and the 200 breast in 2:26.17. She outlasted 14 other swimmers in the 200 IM and seven opponents in the 200 breast. Sunahara also helped Pepperdine win the 200 medley relay and finish second in the 400 medley relay and 100 breast relay. 

The Waves won the Division I classification of the invitational with 408 total points. The University of San Diego finished second with 228 points. Loyola Marymount placed third with 183 points. 

Sunahara won the 100 IM against San Diego State on Oct. 6. She placed first with a time of 1:00.99. Pepperdine lost the team competition 83-59, however. 

Adams won the 100 back, 200 back and 200 IM in the Waves’ two wins over Cal State East Bay on Oct. 14-15. The swimmer won the 100 back in 59.91, the 200 back in 2:10.87, and 200 IM in 2:11.40. The fields of the first two races included five other swimmers, while the third race had six other competitors. Adams was also part of the Pepperdine foursome that won the 800 free relay in 1:57.07. 

Pepperdine won the two meets, 106-59 and 167-95. 

Wong nabbed a third-place finish in the 1-meter diving competition with a score of 226.58 against San Diego State. The diver also had the highest score among a field of six Division I divers in the 3-meter competition with a score of 232.65 in the Rodionoff Invitational. Wong’s score of 226.25 placed her fourth among 11 competitors in the Division I field of the 1-meter portion.

Pepperdine was defeated by San Jose State on Oct. 21. Wong finished second in the 3-meter diving at the meet with a score of 252.23. Cal Poly downed Pepperdine on Oct. 22. Sunahara won the 100 breast with a time of 1:07.88 and the 200 breast in 2:26.38. 

Pepperdine has a 2-3 record heading into their match at Loyola Marymount on Nov. 4.

The Athlete of the Week wins by Sunahara, Wong, and Adams were their first and the first weekly awards for the women’s swim and dive team this season.