M. Swimming Takes 11th Place at Nationals

Record: 9-2, 8-1 EISL

Coach: Mike Chasson

Highlights: Wins Easterns; places 11th at NCAAs

Seniors: Rob Anagnoson, Matt Cornue, Mike Kiedel, Eric Matuszak, Greg Mone, Ben Odell, Joaquim Ribeiro, Dave Schwartz

Simply put, the Harvard men's swimming and diving team had an incredible season this year, placing 11th at NCAAs with a final score of 136.0 led by eight All-American swimmers, including senior Mike Kiedel, junior Greg Wriede and sophomore Tim Martin.

"Finishing in 11th place at NCAAs is a particularly high achievement for a non-scholarship school," said senior Joaquim Ribeiro.

The NCAA relays stood out, as Harvard broke two team records. The 800 Freestyle relay team of co-captain Eric Matuszak, junior Alex Kurmakov, senior Matt Cornue and senior anchor Mike Kiedel took third place with a time of 6:25.92.

Kiedel shined in particular, as he made up three places over the final 200 to bring the team from sixth to third place, recording a split time of 1:34.4. The same four swimmers also set a new team record in the 400 Freestyle relay with a time of 2:55.75.

Moreover, Kiedel broke two individual team records at the NCAAs. He took fourth with a time of 1:34.94 in the 200 Freestyle and broke the team record in the preliminaries for the 500 Freestyle with a time of 4:19.30, taking fifth in finals. Kiedel's outstanding performance at NCAAs reflected the tremendous success that he maintained throughout the entire season.

Freshman Greg Walker, this year's only member of the men's diving team, also qualified for NCAAs and notched a final personal score of 331.70 from the platform.

Completing the triumph of the event, all of the team members who attended NCAAs were named All-Americans.

There were several major highlights throughout the season prior to NCAAs. Senior Greg Mone had the fastest start of the year in the 50 Freestyle against Penn--the final meet of his Harvard career--although he finished the race in sixth place with a time of 22.83. Harvard slaughtered Penn, 233-65.

Sophomore Brian Cadman clocked a top-10 all-time Harvard performance in the 400 Individual Medley, taking third with a time of 3:57.15 at the Texas Invitational.

In the annual Harvard-Yale-Princeton (H-Y-P) dual meet, Harvard had an easy win over Yale with a final score of 130-33, but Princeton proved too tough, and Harvard lost, 114-49.

The score at H-Y-P was due in part to the fact that the entire Yale and Princeton teams were shaved and tapered, ready to swim their best times in this meet. Harvard, however, chose to save its best times for Easterns and NCAAs. Only a fraction of the team would continue on to postseason events and, as a result, only those swimmers for whom H-Y-P was the last important meet were shaved and tapered.

This affected Harvard's performance primarily in the sprinting events, including the relays, because the fastest sprinters were not shaved and tapered.

"[The Harvard team] knew that the focus was on meets down the line but it was still no less frustrating to lose at H-Y-P," said co-captain Eric Matuszak.

Despite the overall disappointment with the loss to Princeton, there were several personal successes at H-Y-P. Junior Greg Wriede came from behind in the last 25 yards of the 200 Backstroke to take first place with a time of 1:48.70. Wriede also placed second in the 200 Individual Medley in 1:50.76 after Kiedel, who took first with a time of 1:49.78.

Sophomore Tim Martin and junior Denis Sirringhaus also made themselves known at H-Y-P, taking first and second in the 1000 Freestyle with times of 9:11.30 and 9:12.86 respectively. Most of the people who were shaved swam personal-best times, including sophomore Ben Rosen, who took third place with a time of 1:39.49 in the 200 Freestyle and fourth in the 50 Freestyle with a time of 20.86.

Harvard avenged its loss to Princeton at H-Y-P by crushing the competition at the more important Eastern League Conference Championship at West Point, winning the meet by a large margin for its third straight Easterns title. Ribeiro helped bring the team to the forefront at the meet, finishing his swimming career with three straight best times in the 100 Butterfly, his major event.

In the morning preliminaries, he went 50.09, which he then beat in a swim-off to qualify for finals. He broke his personal best for the third time in finals with a time of 49.62.

"I am happy that my 10-year swimming career ended on such a good note," Ribeiro said. "Individually, I went best times in my last meet and had a lot of fun during the season."

Harvard also swept the 1500 Freestyle at Easterns in the order of Martin with a time of 15:13.65, Sirringhaus with 15:34.54 and Cadman with a time of 15:38.02.

"Placing third in the 1500 at Easterns was great revenge for H-Y-P, when I was just touched out for third place," Cadman said.

Kiedel, Cornue, freshman Jamie Waters and Kurmakov fulfilled a Harvard tradition by winning the 400 Freestyle Relay with a time of 2:58.23. Harvard has not lost the 400 Freestyle Relay at Easterns since 1980.

But sophomore Tim Martin was the focus of attention at Easterns, as he shared the lead for most points at the meet with Brown junior Charles Barnes. Martin took first in the 1650 Freestyle, the 500 Freestyle and the 1000 Freestyle.

"There were a lot of really good performances, and it is difficult to point out just one in particular, but all of Tim Martin's swims were really impressive," Keidel said.

Harvard also made its mark abroad this year. Sirringhaus won the 1500-meter Freestyle at the long-course South African Nationals, which took place the weekend after NCAAs. His time was an impressive one-tenth of a second off of his best time, with which he ranked 38th in the world in 1997. Sirringhaus also took second in the 400-meter Freestyle long course.

Kiedel, another international been there on the Crimson squad, will miss his own graduation ceremony to attend the German Nationals in June.

After an amazing season, the team will lose seniors Kiedel, Matuszak, Cornue, Schwartz, Mone and Rob Anagnosen. However, those who remain have high hopes for seasons to come.

"Getting 11th in the country [at NCAAs] is the greatest achievement," Cadman said. "I am proud to have been part of this team, and I am looking forward to continuing our success next year."