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.
