Northwestern University Athletics
Swimmers Finished at U.S. Olympic Trials
7/15/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
July 15, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. - The U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials have come and gone, and unfortunately no Northwestern swimmers -- past, present or future -- will be representing the red, white and blue in Athens next month. However, the eight-day meet in Long Beach, Calif., was a noteworthy meet for several members of the Wildcat contingent.
"I think most of the guys did their best times, and this is a meet with a lot of pressure on it so I was happy with the way they performed under the circumstances," said NU head coach Bob Groseth, who saw six of his current or former swimmers compete. Women's coach Jimmy Tierney was also in Long Beach, watching one of his charges compete.
Junior Brian Davis got the men's group started, competing in both of his events in the very first session of the meet, on July 7. Davis swam a 4:26.40 in the 400 IM, beating his seeded time, and finished 10th overall which just put him out of the finals. Later that day, he swam 4:02.70 in the 400 freestyle which placed him 23rd overall.
Day 2 brought the 100 backstroke prelims, in which sophomore Matt Grevers and recent graduate Tony Swanson competed. Grevers finished the prelims in fifth place (55.39), while Swanson was 20th in a personal-best 57.29. Grevers followed up the morning performance with a sixth-place finish in the evening's semifinal race with a personal-best 55.13, then matched that time to take seventh in the final on the evening of Friday, July 9.
"A guy like Matt, I think 2008 will be his time to shine," said Groseth of Grevers, who was Big Ten Co-Swimmer of the Year this past season as a freshman. "This experience will give him the fuel that he needs to carry him through the next four years."
In Friday's morning session, 2003 grad Kellan O'Connor and 2004 grad Mark Hamming participated in the 200 butterfly prelims. O'Connor advanced to the semis by finishing eighth in 2:00.63, while Hamming took 28th in 2:03.20. O'Connor later finished seventh in the semis that evening in 1:59.39, then placed seventh again with a PR of 1:58.97 in the final on Saturday, July 10.
Saturday's morning session saw Grevers compete in the 100 freestyle prelims -- where he took 10th in a personal-best 50.18 seconds -- and Louis Torres compete in the 200 breaststroke where he finished 28th in 2:22.07. That evening, Grevers finished 14th in the 100 free semis, clocking 50.30 seconds.
Hamming and Swanson were on the starting blocks Sunday morning, competing in the 200 IM prelims. Swanson earned a berth in the semis with a 16th-place finish (in 2:05.32), while Hamming was 27th (in 2:06.53). In the evening semis, Swanson matched his placement and had a time of 2:07.17.
Monday was a big day for Northwestern, as four different swimmers competed. In the 50 freestyle, Grevers gained his third semifinal appearance by finishing 11th (in 22.96 seconds). In the 100 butterfly, O'Connor earned a second semifinal showing with an 11th-place finish (in 54.21 seconds), while Swanson was 20th in 54.95 and Hamming was 30th in 55.36. That evening, Grevers closed out NU's showing at the Trials by placing 12th in the 50 free semis (22.82 seconds), while O'Connor was 13th in the 100 fly semis (54.46 seconds).
The Northwestern women were also represented at the Trials, by Vicky West and Michelle Oeser. Oeser, who will be a junior in the fall, competed in the 50-meter freestyle prelims on Tuesday (July 13) and placed 36th overall with a time of 26.64 seconds. West, meanwhile, swam in the 400 freestyle prelims on Thursday (July 8) and recorded a time of 4:29.90.
Players Mentioned
