Men’s Swimming Heads to Atlanta for ACC Championships

Feb. 26, 2008

The men’s swimming team will travel to the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center on Wednesday to begin competition at the ACC Championships until Saturday. The team was tied for the ACC lead in dual-meet wins and led the ACC in league wins during the regular season.

The Tigers are no stranger to the ACC championships, as there are nine seniors and two fifth-year students. The Tigers finished fifth in last season’s event, and will look to improve with an experienced and talented team.

Clemson enters the meet with several swimmers in the ACC’s top 10 for the season. Senior Mark Vahle is third in the 50 free, and senior Matt Balderston is ninth in the 50 free. Seniors Stephen Russell rank highly in the 100 free and 100 fly. Attila Ruszka and Andy Bergren are high-ranking in the 100 breast, 200 breast, and the IM events. Tom Recko is fifth in the 200 back as well. The Tigers also had the second-best time on the season in the 200 free relay.

The Tigers will look to build on the momentum that the women’s team strartd last week, with the Tigers finishing fifth and junior Michelle Parkhurst being named ACC Most Valuable Swimmer. The women set three new ACC records, in the 200 free, 200 back, and 200 free relay.

The meet can be followed online with live results at www.TheACC.com/livestats/m-swim. Nightly finals will be broadcast live on www.accselect.com.

Record Watch:50 free: Mark Vahle holds the school record at 19.66 seconds. His fastest time this season was a 20.11.

100 fly: Adam Farnham’s career best is less that a second from Tommy Rappold’s 47.32.

200 free relay: Last season’s group of Vahle, Farnham, Russell, and Jay Crout were off the school record by 0.03 seconds.

200 IM: Attila Ruszka career best is 0.09 seconds off of Matt Wilson’s record.