Men’s Swimming & Diving Ends Fifth At ACC Championships

Feb. 24, 2007

Chapel Hill, NC – The Clemson Men’s Swimming & Diving team finished up their ACC Championships in fifth place at Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill, NC. The Tigers went out swinging as six different swimmers recorded career best times in the Saturday night session.

Florida State won the overall competition with 714 points, breaking Virginia’s streak of nine straight titles. The Cavaliers were second with 616.5 points. North Carolina (532.5) was third, Virginia Tech (388) was fourth, and Clemson came next with 323.5 points. Georgia Tech (267.5) was sixth, N.C. State (258) claimed seventh, Maryland (253)finished eighth, Duke (128) was ninth, Miami (73) finished 10th, and Boston College (68) rounded out the field in 11th.

The night started off well for Clemson as freshman Thomas Recko swam a career best time in the 200 backstroke to finish 10th. Recko’s time of 1:48.58 was the fifth best in Tiger history in the event. Taylor Thompson (1:50.62), Joel Johnson (1:50.70), and Jay Crout (1:51.88) finished 12th, 13th, and 14th in the 200 back, respectively. Junior Adam Farnham was the top Tiger sprinter in the 100 freestyle as he placed seventh with a time of 45.01. Farnham swam a time of 44.83 in the preliminary heats which was the seventh best in school history. Stephen Russell (45.28) finished 11th, Mark Vahle (45.59) placed 15th, and Bryce Herrington (45.76) finished 16th in the event for Clemson.

Brett MacLennan recorded the ninth best time in Clemson history in the 200 breaststroke as he touched the wall in 12th with a time of 2:03.01. Attila Ruszka (2:04.87) finished 16th for Clemson. Freshman Matt Angelini (1:50.36) claimed 13th place for the Tigers in the 200 butterfly with a career best time. Right behind him was Farnham (1:50.39) as he came in 14th. Sophomore Daniel Mengering placed 18th for the Tigers with his time of 1:50.35, the second best time of the season for Clemson. The final event of the championships was the 400 freestyle relay where the team of MacLennan, Russell, Herrington, and Brian Regone swam to a time of 3:00.39. The time was just off the NCAA Provisional Qualifying mark of 2:59.43.

Michelle Parkhurst competed for the Lady Tigers in the Tar Heel Invitational Saturday, and posted an NCAA Automatic Qualifying time of 1:57.79 in the 200 backstroke. The time was just .05 off of her school record that she set at last year’s ACC Championships.