Men's Swimming: Six Tigers compete at NCAAs

This weekend at the NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas, the Tigers had a chance to put an exclamation point on an already impressive season. They did just that. Seniors Doug Lennox, Will Schaffer, Dan Eckel and Mike Carter, junior Jon Hartmann and freshman Colin Cordes represented the Tigers at the two-day meet. The six swimmers returned to DeNunzio Pool on Sunday evening with a top-25 finish in the meet and a series of All-America honors.

Lennox led Princeton’s efforts, capping off an extraordinary collegiate career with several solid swims. On Friday, Lennox finished 31st in the 50-yard freestyle championship final. In one of his better events, the 100-yard butterfly, the senior tri-captain placed sixth in the final with a time of 45.64 seconds. At the Ivy League Championships, Lennox shattered the NCAA A-cut qualifying time of 46.04 seconds by touching the wall in 45.12.

Lennox said that, though his team failed to make the top 20, which was its goal heading into the weekend, the Tigers are still proud of what they have accomplished.

“Our goal was to get top 20, and we missed that by a couple of points,” Lennox said. “But to go out there and race hard was important. We didn’t really do as well as we wanted to in that sense, but we still scored pretty close.”

In addition to his sixth-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly, Lennox also fared well in his other strong event, the 200-yard butterfly. At the Ivy League Championships, Lennox and Eckel put on a show in the event — Lennox set an Ancient Eight and DeNunzio Pool record, clocking in at one minute, 42.78 seconds, while Eckel claimed second place with a time of 1:43.12.

On Saturday, Lennox failed to make the championship final by a narrow margin of .03 seconds, but he took 10th in the consolation final and bettered his time from the Ivy League Championships, going 1:42.71.

Aside from Lennox’ individual efforts, the six swimmers also displayed versatility and talent in the relay events. The foursome of Lennox, Carter, Hartmann and Cordes earned All-America accolades on Friday by finishing 12th in the preliminary swim with a time of 1:18.28. Though the four placed 16th in the final, their efforts in the prelims were good enough for All-America status.

At the Ivy League Championships, the Tigers wrapped up their dominating performance over the rest of the Ivy League with a win in the 800-yard freestyle relay. This weekend in College Station, Texas, Princeton looked to continue its success in the event, and the foursome of Lennox, Schaffer, Hartmann and Cordes finished well. The group collected another All-America honor after ranking 15th in the championship finals of the event with a time of 6:23.13.

“We had higher hopes than what we placed, but we showed a lot of strength coming back after the most intense meet of our lives three weekends ago,” Lennox said. “We executed as best we could. It is all a learning experience that will go toward the future for the younger guys.”

One reason the Tigers’ season has been so successful is the leadership that the seniors have displayed throughout the year. In addition to Lennox, who established himself early as a force to be reckoned with, swimmers like Schaffer made an impact on the Princeton squad this season. At the NCAA Championships, Schaffer got an opportunity to close out his successful Tiger career.

In the 400-yard individual medley on Saturday, Schaffer finished 27th with a time of 3:50.68. A capable and dependable athlete in the water, the tri-captain finished the same event in 3:48.79 at the Ivy League Championships.

Carter, who rounded out the group of seniors who competed this weekend, has been an integral part of Princeton’s success in relays, and his efforts and contributions to the team cannot be overlooked.

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Lennox certainly recognizes the contributions that his fellow senior teammates have made throughout their four years at Princeton.

“We have been leaders in the pool, and we have grown to be leaders out of the pool as well,” Lennox said. “There are 17 of us, and hopefully the senior class will leave the team in a good place for the future.”

Up-and-coming swimmers like Hartmann and Cordes, who helped Princeton to All-America status in the relays this weekend, will provide depth, experience and leadership to a new squad next season.

But the presence of the seniors will certainly be missed, as this year’s Ivy League Championship-crowned Tigers put together a season for the ages.