CLEARWATER â€" In a pair of record-setting performances, the Florida Southern 800-yard freestyle relay team won the title for the second year in a row, while Juan Tolosa was the runner-up in the 1,000-yard freestyle on day one of the 2013 Sunshine State Conference Swimming Championships.

Tolosa, a freshman from Guipuzcoa, Spain, scored his points first for the Moccasins, swimming his individual race in 9:13.57, an NCAA “B” qualifying time. That blew away the school record he set earlier this year at the NSU Shark Invitational when he swam a 9:27.10. On Wednesday, Tolosa finished second to Nova Southeastern’s Oskar Nordstrand, who won the race for the second year in a row. The senior clocked in at 9:10.79, roughly three seconds ahead of Tolosa, and it was enough to break his own meet record by 0.12 seconds.

The Moccasins also got a fifth-place finish and a national “B” qualifying time from another freshman, Raul Garrastazu (Dorado, PR). Garrastazu swam a time of 9:30.65, which stands as his best of the season. He and Tolosa kept Nova Southeastern from sweeping the 1,000-yard freestyle, with the Sharks taking four of the top six positions.

In the 800-yard freestyle relay, the Moccasins jumped out in front right away behind senior Jeb Halfacre (Gainesville, FL), widened the lead behind sophomore Luis Rojas (Caracas, Venezuela) , and continued to pull away with their third and fourth legs, sophomore Allan Gutierrez (San Pedro Sula, Honduras) and senior Stephen Swan (Snellville, GA). Their combined time of 6:33.37 was a Division II national automatic qualifier, and it broke the previous meet record that the same four Moccasin swimmers set in 2012. The Mocs won by 3.65 seconds over Nova Southeastern’s top relay team.

Florida Southern also got a “B” qualifying time from its second 800-yard freestyle relay team of Garrastazu, Tolosa, Dylan Lake (Los Alamos, NM) and Ian Yext (Coopersburg, PA).

The championships continue at the Long Center on Thursday with two relay events and three individual events. For live coverage of the 2013 Sunshine State Conference Championships, as well as a full schedule of events please visit: http://www.sunshinestateconference.com/article.asp?articleID=1852