Kunishima Splashes to Division II Record

John Kunishima had just shattered an NCAA Division II swim record, but no one would have known it.

In fact, Kunishima didn’t know it.

Shortly after completing the 200-yard individual medley, he shot a glance at the electronic scoreboard.

No expression.

He then turned toward Cal State Northridge’s area of the bleachers, raised both arms to shoulder level and gave a “Well?” kind of shrug.

“I can’t see anything without my glasses,” he said. “I was waiting for someone to tell me what my time was.”

Told it was 1 minute 49.81 seconds, Kunishima finally allowed himself a grin. He had bettered the standard for the event that he had set in the morning preliminaries.

Coming into the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships, which started Wednesday and will run through Saturday at the State University of New York at Buffalo natatorium, Kunishima had a season best of 1:57.19.

The sophomore from Hacienda Heights shaved almost 10 seconds off that mark in the morning heats to best the previous record of 1:50.31.

“I could go a lot faster,” he said. “I could be scary.”

Kunishima’s victory helped the Northridge men’s team move into third place. The Matadors (81.5 points) trail Oakland (Mich., 135.5) and four-time defending team champion Cal State Bakersfield (197).

The CSUN women, who have led wire to wire in the past three national meets, are in second place with 102 points, nine behind North Dakota.

CSUN’s Michelle Sulak (4:56.20) and Lisa Dial (4:57.16) placed second and third in the 500-yard freestyle. Kirsten Silvester of Northern Michigan won in 4:54.27.