Men's Swimming Breaks SMU Record in First Day of NCAAs

[PonyPride]

Men's Swimming Breaks SMU Record in First Day of NCAAs
Mustangs Set New School Record in 200 Free Relay


March 27, 2008



SEATTLE, Wash. (SMU)--The SMU men's swimming and diving team set a new school record in the 200 free relay Thursday night, during the first day of competition at the 85th Annual NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, hosted by the University of Washington.

Shane Milu, Thomas Fadnes, Luka Vrtovec and Pontus Renholm touched in at 1:18.51 in the prelim round of the 200 free relay Thursday morning, breaking the school record they set just a few weeks ago at the Conference USA Invitational. The squad placed 11th in the prelim and repeated that performance in the final Thursday night. The Mustangs combined for a time of 1:19.03 in the final, notching 11th place and 12 points for SMU.

SMU marked a number of strong performances Thursday. Nate Clark tied his career-best in the 500 free, touching the wall at 4:20.99, good for 21st overall. Vrtovec swam a time of 19.75 in the 50 free, just four one-hundredths of a second off his season-fastest time. Milu swam the course in 20.10 and Fadnes clocked a time of 20.16, just four one-hundredths of a second of his season-best.

In the 400 medley relay, the Mustangs were on pace to break their season-fastest time, but were disqualified on a bad exchange during the prelims.

"The relay disqualification was a costly mistake, but we'll put it behind us," said head coach Eddie Sinnott. "The guys are swimming well and we're having fun. We set a school record in the first event of the day, which was a good way to start. We had a slip-up, but we're going to keep cranking it out. This has been a very fast meet so far, top to bottom. It's exciting to be part of it. Tomorrow should be a very exciting day for us. We've got the short medley relay to start out and Alex Hetland will have a shot at the 100 breast. Pontus could also have a shot in the 100 back, if he swims his best. We're looking forward to it. The key is to make sure we're swimming at our best."

After the first day of competition, the Mustangs are in a three-way tie for 22nd place with 12 points. Prelims begin again Friday morning at 10am CT, with the finals to follow at 9pm CT. Live results can be found here.

The complete results and SMU recap will be available on SMUMustangs.com following the conclusion of each day's finals.

[EastStang]

The Ponies finished 14th. They placed in several relays. Several swimmers scored points in individual events. Just to put it into perspective. SMU placed higher than any ACC school or any BE school or any other non-BCS school. And on a how the mighty have fallen note, USC (SoCal) finished 36th. So kudo's to the Mustangs for a great showing. The top conference appeared to be the SEC, followed by the Big Ten, then the Pac 10 and Big XII.

[George S. Patton]

Top 15 finishes for men's and swimming seasons. Congratulations on great seasons and looking forward to 2008-09.

[ready4abowl]

Well done gents.

Now how about that new pool!?!?!?!?