Swim teams find success at U.S. Championships
August 17, 2010 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Aug. 17, 2010
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MADISON, Wis. -- The 2010 ConocoPhillips National Championships at the Williamm Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, Calif., was completed last week and the Wisconsin swimming and diving teams had a strong showing over the five-day event.
Ashley Wanland led all Badger swimmers as she qualified for two finals.
The rising junior raced her way to a win in the consolation final of the women's 100-meter breaststroke, and she did so in impressive fashion.
Wanland's performance placed her ninth overall in the event despite the fact that, at 1:08.42, she clocked the third-fastest time in the elite field. The mark was the fastest time by a collegian and positions Wanland for a potential Team USA berth for the upcoming World University Games.
A member of the USA Swimming Women's National Team for the 2009-10 season, Wanland moved up to No. 14 in the world with her performance.
Wanland followed that performance by taking seventh in the 200 breaststroke with a mark of 2:28.77.
Maggie Meyer also performed well, winning the consolation final of the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:13.10.
Junior-to-be Beckie Thompson scored a spot in the consolation final of the 50 freestyle and swam to a 16th-place finish. Thompson clocked in at 26.06 in the final after swimming the 11th-fastest time of the morning prelims at 25.87.
The men's team put three swimmers into the finals.
An early highlight for Wisconsin came on Tuesday when the Badgers placed a pair of swimmers in the final of the men's 400-meter individual medley. The duo of Sam Rowan and Michael Weiss, coming off freshman seasons at UW, made the most of their opportunity in the final.
Rowan raced his way to a 19th-place overall finish by dropping a half-second off his preliminary time and hitting the wall in 4:27.22. The mark placed Rowan third in the event's "C" final, which is comprised of the swimmers who qualified 17th through 24th-fastest in the prelims.
Weiss couldn't match the 4:28.24 he clocked during the morning prelims but secured a 24th-place finish in 4:31.50.
Jesse Stipek took eighth in the "C" final of the 200 back with a 2:05.68 to round out the men's competitors.
