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.
