Three Represent Crimson in Washington

The Harvard men’s swimming and diving team sent three of its athletes to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships this past weekend at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.

The Crimson was represented by co-captain Geoff Rathgeber and juniors Eric Lynch and Bill Jones. Over the three-day contest, Rathgeber swam in three events, while Lynch and Jones each participated in two, earning Harvard a total of 19 points and a 29th place finish in the competition.

“It’s a whole different meet,” Rathgeber said of the NCAA meet. “You have to be on top of your game every single session and the competition’s so stiff.”

This trip marked Rathgeber’s third time at the NCAA national championships, where he finished 11th in the 200-yard IM last year, gaining All-American status for the event.

Rathgeber improved on that placement this year, finishing sixth in the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:45.61, again receiving All-American honors and achieving his best performance at an NCAA championship meet. He also garnered an All-American honorable mention in the 400-yard IM, which he swam in 3:47.65 for an 11th-place finish. On the final day of the contest, Rathgeber competed in the 200-yard breaststroke, where he touched the wall in 1:59.08, finishing 24th in the preliminary round.

Lynch and Jones also saw action at the King County Aquatic Center this past weekend, marking the first trip to the NCAA Championships for both athletes.

“It was incredible,” Jones said. “It was a great feeling to be able to make it to NCAAs and compete at the national championships.”

Jones raced in the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly, placing 23rd and 25th, respectively, in the preliminary rounds. Jones completed the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 47.35, and finished the 200-yard butterfly after 1:46.12.

Lynch competed in the 500-yard freestyle, in which he finished 35th in the preliminary round with a time of 4:24.03. He also swam in the 1650-yard freestyle on Saturday, touching the wall in 15:11:36 for a solid 18th place finish.

“Both [Jones and Lynch] swam really well,” Rathgeber said. “I was really impressed by how well they handled all the pressure.”

This meet marked the end of a perfect season for the Crimson swimmers, who finished with a 9-0 record and the Ivy League regular season, EISL regular season, and ECAC and EISL meet championships under their belt. For Rathgeber, however, the NCAA competition was a bittersweet way to end his four-year swimming career at Harvard due to the more individual nature of the competition.

“It’s always tough to go to this meet because I don’t have my teammates—every day we told stories about our teammates that weren’t there,” Rathgeber said. “It was sad to go out without all my teammates around me but it was a good way to end the season.”

—Staff writer Alexandra J. Mihalek can be reached at amihalek@fas.harvard.edu.