Routh Smashes School Record On Final Day At NCAA Championships

March 18, 2006

Athens, GA- In the last race of her Clemson career, Kim Routh left it all in the pool. From the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, GA, the senior from Sandusky, OH broke her own school mark in the 1650 freestyle that she set just four weeks ago at the 2006 ACC Championships. Routh came from the second to last heat to outlast all but four of her competitors in the marathon event. She touched the wall with a time of 16:10.28, almost seven seconds faster than her career best. The effort earned the Lady Tigers 14 more points to add to their total for the weekend. Clemson finished the meet in 28th place with 18 points. The 18 points posted by the Lady Tigers was the third highest total by any of the ACC teams, behind Florida State and Virginia.

Routh will pass the torch on to Michelle Parkhurst who swam in the preliminary heats of the 200 backstroke Saturday morning. She swam the event in a time of 2:00.35 to place 31st. Parkhurst had previously broken the school record in the 200 back at the ACC Championships with a time of 1:57.74 to earn the bronze medal.

Clemson will return to action with the men’s NCAA Championships from March 23-25. Mark Vahle will be the lone Tiger swimmer at the meet which will be held at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta.