Tay Thomas Set to Represent Pepperdine in the MPSF Open Water Championships

MALIBU, Calif. – Pepperdine swimmer, Tay Thomas is set to compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Open Water Championship on Saturday, October 21 at Marine Stadium in Long Beach, Calif. The senior helped the squad win back-to-back PCSC Championships and is ready to help the team during the first year in the MPSF Conference.

"We're really excited for Tay to represent us at the inaugural MPSF Open Water Championships," assistant coach Dan Marella said. "Open water swimming seems to be a sport that's going to enter the NCAA soon. Tay is a seasoned vet and has experience from her open water swim at Lake Tahoe this past summer. It's been really exciting for me to work with her and get ready for this event. We did a lot of conditioning in the pool and got into the ocean one to two times a week to get a feel for the currents and simulate how it's going to be in Long Beach. Overall, we're really excited, and I think Tay is going to do great."

The MPSF will be the first-ever NCAA Collegiate Conference to sponsor an open water championship. The top-three conference finishers will automatically qualify for the 5K Open Water National Championships. Thomas is set to begin her swim at 10:30 a.m. Other schools competing in this event include Pacific, San Diego, Loyola Marymount, San Jose State, Cal Baptist, Grand Canyon, Whittier, San Diego State, Utah and Nevada. The MPSF is planning to live stream the event at mpsorts.org.

Thomas (Pleasant Hill, Calif./College Park HS) recently completed the true width swim of Lake Tahoe in July and collected the fourth-fastest woman time and the sixth-fastest in history. The 12.1-mile marathon took an unofficial time of 5:03.52. Thomas explained that "my swim this summer helped me mentally, knowing I'm in it for the long haul. It's a marathon, not a sprint."

In the past few weeks, Thomas has been training with the Waves, and additionally heads out to Zuma Beach to get used to ocean conditions once a week. The water temperatures have taken some getting used to, altering warm-ups and staying long when big waves come along. This weekend, Thomas is anticipating the challenge of other people swimming with her, which is not something she has experienced before in her other open-water swims.

Thomas said her goal for this weekend is "just going out there and having fun. This is the first time we're doing this, so completing the race is always the first step with open water swims." The opportunity to represent her squad and Pepperdine, especially in their debut in the MPSF Conference, is something she takes great pride in.

Tay Thomas Set to Represent Pepperdine in the MPSF Open Water Championships

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