July 6, 2009

BELGRADE, Serbia-- Stanford swimmers Jason Dunford and Chad La Tourette each won silver medals leading off the World University Games in Serbia. Dunford did so, breaking the four-year old championship record, in the 50 butterfly, while La Tourette took home second place in the 400 freestyle.

Dunford, an All-American who finished up his collegiate career this past season, began his quest with a heat-leading 23.74 mark, before bettering it by 23.09 in the Semifinals. The semifinal time of 23.09 led four international swimmers who broke Sergiy Breus of the Ukraine's 2005 record.

Dunford went onto finish second to Slovenia's Jerenej Godec by .04 seconds in the Finals, swimming 23.45.

Late Sunday, La Tourette (3:46.72), finished second to Poland's Przemyslaw Stanczyk and his championship-setting time of 3:46.93 in the Finals after finishing tied for third with American teammate Matthew Patton (3:49.15) amongst the five heats. La Tourette continued on Monday with the third-fastest 800 freestyle time in heats, at 8:00.76, with the Finals scheduled for Tuesday.

It will be a busy week for both of Stanford's Olympic-caliber swimming programs with the U.S. World Championship Trials beginning in Indianapolis on Tuesday, and the Canadian Trials starting in Montreal on Wednesday. The World University Games continue through July 11.

UPCOMING DATES FOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITON
U.S. World Championships Trials
July 7-11 in Indianapolis, IN

Canadian World Championship Trials
July 8-11, in Montreal, Quebec

World University Games
July 5-11, Belgrade, Serbia

Maccabiah Games
July 12-23, Israel

World Championships
July 18-August 2, Rome, Italy