Nationals Day 4

Claire and Karl were back in action for the final day of this long, 4 day swim meet.  Even tough both of them were only swimming individual events, the travel and physical and mental stress that this high-stakes meet creates is a lot to handle.  Fortunately, Karl and Claire rallied and day 4 was another record-setting day!

Karl swam first again this morning, clocking in a Whitman record 45.18 100 freestyle.  His time was fast enough to qualify him for finals in the 16th and final position.  The NWC record in the 100 freestyle is 45.12, a time that eluded Karl in finals as well.  Despite taking his finals swim out .22 faster than his morning swim, he couldn't quite catch the NWC record time but ended up 15th overall with a 45.27.  The 100 freestyle was incredibly tight this year.  Karl was 15th at 45.27 and the winning time was just over a second faster than Karl at 44.18.  Karl's 100 freestyle final was his 3rd All-America swim of the meet and the 6th of his career so far, the most in Whitman Athletics history.

Claire followed Karl's morning swim with a tremendous swim of her own in the 200 breaststroke.  After a little bit of disappointment about not getting under the 1:04 barrier in the 100 yesterday, Claire was determined to break 2:20 in the 200 and that's just what she did.  She posted a Whitman record 2:19.92 preliminary time which was good enough to qualify her for the finals session in 11th place.  Claire had nearly identical splits in the evening race as she did in her morning except for one major difference: like her 100, she closed better than anyone in her heat.  She finished with a final 50 split of 36.11, over half a second faster than her morning swim's final 50 split.  The end result tonight was another Whitman record time and 11th place overall finish at 2:19.47.  Claire's 200 breaststroke finish earned her a 2nd All-America award and was her 3rd All-America award of her career.

After the meet, we went out for a nice celebratory dinner with both Claire's and Karl's parents.  Many thanks to both of them for making the trip from Burlingame, CA, and Boise, ID, respectively.  The support from all our Whitman Swimming parents and family and friends over the last week has been incredibly meaningful to everyone.  And a major shout-out to Keller Hawkins who made the drive to Indianapolis all the way from Walla Walla.  Even though she had to get her car home to Nashville anyway, having Keller here for the meet was so inspiring for all of us.  To all the Whitman swimmers and supporters, thank you!  We could never have made it here without you!

Claire and Jenn waving to Claire's parents in the stands after her 200 breast

Tomorrow, we head out of Indiana after (fortunately) getting to sleep in tomorrow.  Karl and Jenn head back to Walla Walla, Claire is off to spend the week at home with her family in Burlingame, and I'm off to experience the south with with Keller and her family in Nashville.  

Thanks for a great Nationals and a great season and I hope we see you at Whitman soon!

Nationals Day 3

Aside from being Karl's 21st birthday today, there were a few other notable things going on.  This morning, both Claire and Karl broke NWC and Whitman records in their individual events.  Karl struck first in the 200 butterfly, swimming to a 1:47.31 earning a second-place seed for tonight's final.  Claire followed Karl's performance with a 1:04.07 100 breaststroke and a 10th place seed for finals.

Tonight, the buzz on the pool deck was that the Men's 200 butterfly was going to be the best race of the night and it proved to be just that.  Karl, the University of Redlands' Jeff Depew, and Mary Washington's Hugh Anderson, battled it out in dramatic fashion.  Karl led until the 150 yard mark but couldn't quite match the finishing speed of Depew and Anderson.  In the end, it was Anderson who came out on top with a winning time of 1:45.36, just out-touching Depew, who finished in 1:45.38.  Karl was 3rd at 1:45.78, shattering his NWC and Whitman records in the event.  Any of this year's top 3 times would have won the event at last year's meet.  The best part: each of the top 4 finishers is a junior.

Claire's 100 breaststroke final was every great as Karl's 200 fly.  Claire was out a little slower than her morning swim at the 50 and finished the race even better than she did this morning.  Her finals time of 1:04.18 was just off her morning swim but the quality of her swimming certainly wasn't.  She had the 2nd fastest back-half in her heat, closing the race down in 33.37.  After watching her swim her 100 tonight, I can't wait to see what she can do in the 200 tomorrow.  I think we're in for another awesome race!

It was also senior night at the meet and Claire and all the other senior National qualifiers from all the other teams were recognized before the start of the finals session.  Needless to say, we'll all miss Claire very much.

Karl finishes up his meet tomorrow as well, swimming the 100 freestyle.  Because he didn't compete in the 100 freestyle at the NWC Championships, his entry time is from his mid-season taper at the Husky Invitational in December.  With his 400 free relay anchor split of 44.57 at Conference in February, it's hard to say what will happen tomorrow!

We had a nice team/birthday dinner with Claire's and Karl's parents after the meet tonight--all while watching our Women's Basketball team handle UW Whitewater and advance to the Championship game tomorrow!  It's such an exciting time to be part of Whitman Athletics!

Nationals Day 2

It was a big day for Whitman Swimming.  Three years ago, Karl Mering qualified for Nationals and he and teammate, Galen Sollom-Brotherton, became the first Whitman swimmers to earn All-America honors.  Last year, Karl earned himself a 3rd place finish and Galen, a 2nd.  Today, Karl completed the journey to the top with Whitman Swimming's first ever National Title.
He took home the crown in dramatic fashion, winning in 47.91, just out-touching the 2nd place finisher from Connecticut College, who finished in 47.92.  His swim was an NWC and Whitman record in the event.  To put it briefly, it was as close to unbelievable as it gets.  Jenn, Claire and I were surrounded by coaches and swimmers from two of the most represented schools at the meet: Emory and Denison University, but it wasn't a powerhouse with over a dozen qualifiers that finished first, it was Karl, the only representative of our Men's team from a little town in rural Washington state that maybe 1 in 5 people at this meet have heard of.  They've heard of us now.

Karl's win today was a true team effort.  All of our swimmers, alums, parents, and friends and family, pushed all of us and made what four years ago was nothing more than a crazy fantasy into a reality.  The outpouring of energy and team pride today after Karl's race was totally awesome!  I've said it before and I'll say it again and again, the Whitman Swim Team is every bit as great as any of the top-ranked teams at this National Championships.  We might not be sending dozens of people to the meet just yet but we're on the way.

And the meet isn't over!  We're only two days into the four day extravaganza that is the National Championships.  Tomorrow, Claire gets back in action in her signature event, the 100 breaststroke, in which she took home the NWC title just over one month ago, and finished 12th at last year's National Championships.  Karl continues his meet with the 200 butterfly tomorrow.  The 200 fly is the first race of the day, the 100 breast, the last.  Karl should hit the water just after 10am, Claire will probably swim sometime after 11:00am.  Like today, I'll be posting when Claire and Karl are close to swimming on our Facebook and Twitter.

Nationals Day 1

Day one is in the books and it was a great way to start off the meet!  Claire was the only one in action today for her optional entry in the 50 freestyle.  Her main events, the 100 and 200 breaststroke, will take place on Friday and Saturday.  But her 50 freestyle today was a great start!  She swam a personal best 25.35.  Although it wasn't the fastest time in the meet--in fact, the winning time was a blazing fast 22.80--it was a great way to get the jitters out.

Tomorrow, Claire has the day off and Karl takes on the 100 butterfly.  Karl is the top seed in the event after his Northwest Conference winning swim of 48.20.  If day one was any indicator of what's to come, it is sure to be exceptionally close in both prelims and finals.  It's going to take a great prelims swim from Karl tomorrow morning in order to be in contention in finals tomorrow night.  It's going to be an awesome morning!  I'll be posting more updates about Karl's heat and lane again tomorrow.

And a link to live results.

NCAA Banquet

Tonight, we had our formal NCAA banquet at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Indianapolis.  The event brought together over 700 student-athletes, coaches, and guests for dinner and presentations by two guest speakers, as well as a presentation of the NCAA's "Elite 89" award which goes to the student-athlete from each sport and each division who participates in a national championship and who achieves the highest cumulative GPA out of all male or female participants.

Our guest speakers tonight were a representative from the Special Olympics, who the NCAA supports and partners with often for events; and Brian Casey, the president of Depauw University in Greencastle, IN, a DIII institution who sent a strong contingent of 13 student-athletes to this week's National Championships.  Casey was a swimmer at Notre Dame University where he held several school records and was named Notre Dame's Scholar of the Year after his senior season.  Both of them delivered great speeches praising the immense value inherent in athletic competition.  It was a very fun and inspirational way to start off our meet here in Indiana!

Tomorrow, Claire swims the 50 free!  Karl has the day off tomorrow to continue to rest and prepare for his 100 butterfly which he will swim on Thursday.  I'll be tweeting results as quickly as I can all week!  Be sure to check in with our Facebook page as well.  I'll continue to upload more photos every day!

Also, tons of NWC pride at the meet!  We shared a table tonight with our friends from Whitworth.

Nationals Preview and Info

On Monday morning, we head for Indianapolis.  Connecting through Seattle and Chicago, to Indianapolis, our flights have us arriving in Indy at about 5:00pm, plenty of time to get to the pool in time for a warm-up to shake out any cobwebs from the day of travel.  The IUPUI Natatorium is one of the finest swimming and diving facilities in the world and has been host to several NCAA Championships.

On Tuesday, Claire and Karl will get another chance to swim before the Tuesday evening banquet dinner.  The banquet dinner will feature a guest speaker, and all the teams competing at the meet will be present for the event.  Afterwards, it's time to shave down and get ready to race!

Here is a day-by-day schedule for Karl and Claire:
Wednesday: Claire: 50 freestyle
Thursday: Karl: 100 butterfly
Friday: Claire: 100 breaststroke; Karl: 200 butterfly
Saturday: Claire: 200 breaststroke: Karl, 100 freestyle

Prelims for each session start at 10am Eastern Time, finals each night at 6pm Eastern Time.

Live results will be available.  I'll be posting links, photos, and other info on our Facebook and Twitter.  Be sure to check them frequently!  I will also be posting stories and photos to the blog throughout the week.