March 26, 2010

Championships Central | Live Results

MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin freshman Daniel Lester opened his first-ever NCAA competition by finishing 31st overall in the preliminaries of the 200-yard individual medley Friday at the 2010 NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships in Columbus, Ohio.

Returning to the pool in which he earned three top-five finishes at last month's Big Ten championships, Lester clocked in with a time of 1:45.98 to finish 31st fastest in the prelims session held Friday morning.

The time was off Lester's season-best pace of 1:45.59 from the Big Ten meet, which earned him a fifth-place finish in the 200 IM.

Texas's Austin Surhoff laid down the fastest time of the morning at 1:43.17 to earn the top seed for the evening finals session.

The NCAA championships, which was delayed 24 hours after 18 student-athletes and a coach contracted an apparent gastrointestinal illness, continues Saturday and Sunday at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.

Lester will swim the 400 IM on Saturday and the 200 butterfly on Sunday.