COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. --- Christine Tixier, Lisa Tixier, and Shane Brinson have been selected by The College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America's (CSCAA) as candidates for its centennial list of 100 Greatest Swimmers & Divers. The CSCAA has selected 973 candidates as finalists from a pool of 2,805 nominees dating back more than 100 years. 

Finalists for the CSCAA's 100 Greatest Swimmers & Divers will now go to a Blue Ribbon Panel of voters who will be charged with narrowing the selections to 100 men and 100 women. In total, 221 schools across the country had at least one athlete named a finalist. Of the nominees, 739 were swimmers and 234 were divers.

Christine Tixier, a 2015 graduate, was a standout for Biola Swim. Tixier was named the NAIA Women's Swimmer of the Year in both her junior and senior seasons as well as the PCSC Women's Swimmer of the year in her final season as an Eagle. 

During her time as an Eagle, Tixier earned eight national championships. She was named an All-American for the first time as a freshman and would earn the honor 10 times during her four years. Tixier left her mark on Biola Swim as she wrote her name in the record book 16 separate times. Christine was inducted into the Biola Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.

Lisa Tixier, the younger of the Tixier sisters, also left her mark on BU Swim following in her sister's footsteps. As a freshman, Tixier was a six-time All-American and set two individual records while helping set five relay records as well. A strong sophomore campaign saw Tixier earn All-American honors in seven different events. She went onto win a national championship in both the 100-butterfly and 100-freestyle.

In Tixier's final two seasons as an Eagle, she earned All-American honors seven times, secured two national championship titles, was named Biola's Female Student-Athlete of the Year and recipient of the Dr. Dave Holmquist Career Achievement Award, won five PCSC conference titles, named PCSC Female Swimmer of the Year and set eight school records. 

Eddie Shepard, former BU Swim & Dive Coach had the honor of coaching all three athletes who were selected as finalists.  

"What set the Tixier sisters apart from all the other great swimmers that we have had in Biola's program history is their ability to perform consistently across strokes and swimming disciplines," said Shepard. 

"Beyond their talent in the pool, they were the most humble and unassuming young women you could meet. If you knew them outside of a swimming context you likely would not know that they were national champion swimmers because of their perspective that it was through the power of God that they were able to perform at the level they did."

Shane Brinson originally attended Biola as a cross country and track& field athlete before walking-on as a diver and making history. Brinson earned back-to-back NAIA All-American honors in his only two seasons as a diver. In his debut season on the board, Brinson was named the NAIA Male Diver of the Year and collected two national championships in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. 

Brinson would go on to nearly repeating his debut season, sweeping the NAIA national championships in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives as well as being named the NAIA Male Diver of the Year for the second straight season. Brinson was ranked first in the nation in both dives during his final season as an Eagle and finished his career with four individual NAIA national championships.

"Shane always impressed me with his love to compete," said Shapard. "He thrived under the pressure of big championship meets and was always striving to push himself to be a better diver. He was an all-around talented athlete having competed for Biola as a cross-country runner as well."