ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Simmons College women's swimming & diving team stands in seventh place following the first day of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Open Championships in Annapolis, Md. at host United States Naval Academy's Lejeune Hall. The meet features swimming & diving programs from NCAA Division I, II and III.

The Sharks sent seven swimmers to compete at this year's meet and totaled 55 points on the day. First place Navy racked up 198 points. Simmons saw both of its relay teams finish among the top seven in the finals.

Simmons placed fifth in the 400-yard medley relay with senior Miriam Swisher (Albuquerque, N.M.) swimming the opening backstroke leg, followed by junior Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) in the breaststroke and junior Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) in the butterfly, prior to the freestyle anchor leg swam by first year Laura List (Bedford, Mass.), combining on a time of 3:57.99 to nip Bucknell University by .14 seconds. 

The Sharks opened the night of finals with a time of 1:39.82 to place seventh in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Giraldi swam the opening leg, followed by sophomore Kerry Fleming (Northampton, Mass.), senior Sarah Price (New York, N.Y.) and List. The quartet finished ahead of Saint Francis College (Pa.) by one one-hundreth of a second.

Swisher was the team's top individual performer, placing 14th in the consolation finals of the 50-yard freestyle with a mark of 24.09 to finish ahead of a pair of swimmers from Navy.

Fleming posted a time of 5:10.37 to finish 19th in the morning's preliminary heats of the 500-yard freestyle, just missing a spot as an alternate for the finals, while edging out Columbia University's entry. Classmate Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) clocked in at 5:13.93 to place 21st for Simmons. List also competed in the morning's preliminaries, placing 29th in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.99.

The Sharks will return to the pool tomorrow morning for the second day of preliminaries.