FORT MYERS, Fla. – FGCU volunteer assistant coach Pavel Babaev (Lehigh Acres, Fla./Lehigh Senior HS/FAU) placed third in the 50-meter freestyle at the AT&T Winter National Championships in Austin, Texas.

In the 50-meter free preliminaries, Babaev qualified for the “A” finals with a time of 19.51. In the finals, Babaev swam an even faster time of 19.44. At last year’s US Nationals, Babaev finished in ninth place with a time of 22.75.

Prior to FGCU, Babaev swam collegiately at Florida Atlantic University from 2002-06, where he was coached by current FGCU head coach Neal Studd. In 2005, Babaev participated in the 200 medley relay that posted a school and Sun Belt Conference record. During his career he also broke the school records in the 50 free, 200 free relay, and 400 medley relay.