Cromwell Shatters Records

In his last meet as a collegiate athlete, Dave Cromwell of the Harvard men’s swimming and diving completed his Crimson career on a high note. As one of only two Harvard swimmers at the NCAA Championships, Cromwell broke the Crimson record twice in the 200-yard backstroke. He finished with two fourth-place finishes—and also notched a fourth in the 100-yard backstroke—and All-American honors.

“Dave just swam lights out,” sophomore Geoff Rathgeber said. “It was nice to see an Ivy swimmer up there with national champions and some Olympians.”

In the preliminary heat, Cromwell notched a time of 1:42.96, easily besting his previous record of 1:43.17 and earning a berth in the finals. In the finals, Cromwell continued to improve, finishing with a time of 1:41.83. The performances, combined with his 100-yard backstroke results, gave Cromwell five individual All-American honors in his career and seven overall.

Rathgeber, the only other Harvard competitor at the meet, finished No. 26 in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:01.25. He improved on his performance at the NCAA Championships in 2005.

“I swam OK, but not as well as I had hoped,” Rathgeber said. “I’m used to racing hard at night and lighter in the morning, but this time I didn’t race that well in the morning and didn’t make it to the finals at night. It was disappointing, but I’m hoping to get back next year.”

Rathgeber will look to return to the Championships in 2007 and wish that other Crimson swimmers qualify as well.

Cromwell, on the other hand, has competed in his last meet for Harvard.

“Dave knows the ropes,” Rathgeber said. “He’s a great swimmer, friend, and captain. He definitely going to be missed next year.”

Although the Crimson had far fewer swimmers than many other teams, it totaled 29.50 points and placed No. 20 out of 49 teams, due largely to Cromwell’s two All-American performances. Auburn won the team championship with 480.5 points.

—Staff writer Julie R.S. Fogarty can be reached at fogarty2@fas.harvard.edu.