CHICAGO -- The 2nd-ranked University of Chicago men's swimming and diving team sits in third place after the opening day of the Phoenix Fall Classic.

John Butler was the star of the show for the Maroons on the opening day of the Phoenix Fall Classic as the standout sophomore continued his stellar season with two more first-place finishes, two pool records, and one school record. In prelims, Butler took the top spot in the 50 Free prelims as he broke the pool record with a time of 19.98. Then, in the finals on Friday night, the sophomore shattered his own record and took the school record with a time of 19.91 to win the 50 Free by nearly three-tenths of a second. With his two first-place finishes in the relay events, Butler has now won 21 consecutive races, dating back to the opening meet of the season.

The Maroons added two more first-place finish on the opening night as the team swept both relay titles. The relay team of Cooper Costello, Igor Benderskii, Rylan Kruep, and John Butler won the 200 Free Relay with a B Cut time of 1:19.25. Then, in the final race of the night, the team of avid Gutin, Ethan Taylor, Cooper Costello, and John Butler won the 400 Medley Relay with a B Cut time of 3:12.63.

Costello and Alex Schwartz added the other B Cuts for UChicago on the opening night of the meet. Costello took second in the 200 IM with a time of 1:48.60, and Schwartz added a second-place finish in the 500 Free with a time of 4:28.28.

The lone other record book performance for the Maroons on the opening night saw freshman David Gutin earn his spot in the record book with a time of 1:50.11 in the 200 IM which ranks as the sixth fastest in program history.

The Maroons will return to the pool on Saturday morning at 10 AM CT for day 2 prelims at the Myers-McLoraine Pool.

A FINAL FINISHES:

* 1st - John Butler - 50 Freestyle - 19.91 (School Record / Pool Record / B Cut)
* 1st - Cooper Costello, Igor Benderskii, Rylan Kruep, John Butler - 200 Free Relay - 1:19.25 (Pool Record / B Cut)
* 1st - David Gutin, Ethan Taylor, Cooper Costello, John Butler - 400 Medley Relay - 3:12.63 (B Cut)
* 2nd - Cooper Costello - 200 IM - 1:48.60 (B Cut)
* 2nd - Alex Schwartz - 500 Freestyle - 4:28.28 (B Cut)
* 5th - Rylan Kruep - 50 Freestyle - 20.46
* 5th - Misha Kojanov, Christopher Xia, Lucas Li, Igor Benderskii - 400 Medley Relay - 3:19.45
* 6th - David Gutin - 200 IM - 1:50.11 (6th in UChicago history)
* 9th - Christopher Mo - 500 Freestyle - 4:35.40
* 9th - Winston Wang, Armand Pierre Chan, Daniel Fu, Ryan Lobo - 200 Free Relay - 1:23.57

TEAM SCORES:

1) #8 NYU - 717
2) #6 WashU - 542
3) #2 UChicago - 459.5
4) UMSL - 290.5
5) #22 Gettysburg - 265
6) Grinnell - 232
7) Truman State - 151
8) Nebraska Wesleyan - 136
9) Illinois Tech - 120