For the second time this season, Kenyon College senior Arthur Conover was declared the North Coast Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Week. He was selected for the honor Monday based, in part, on a record-setting swim at the Total Performance Sports Camps Invitational.
Thursday night, Conover got competition started in the three-day meet by setting the NCAA Division III standard in the 1,650-yard freestyle. He finished the grueling event in a time of 14:56.44, which shaved nearly five seconds off his previous national record of 15:01.24 and gained him automatic entry into the 2017 NCAA Championship meet. His 1,000-yard split of 9:03.58 was also a Kenyon record.
On the next night of competition, Conover clocked in at 1:38.05 and claimed second place in the 200-yard freestyle. That time was the best recorded in NCAA Division III this season and also met the NCAA ‘B’ qualifying standard.
Finally, on Saturday night, Conover concluded his strong showing at the Invitational by winning the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 4:22.70. Once again, that time was a Division III season-best and cleared the NCAA ‘B’ cut.
Fresh off a record-setting showing in the Total Performance Sports Camps Invitational, Kenyon College junior Julia Wilson was named Monday the North Coast Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Week.
During the three-day meet, Wilson scored in four events. She kicked off competition Thursday by swimming a leg on Kenyon’s winning 200-yard medley relay team, which clocked in with a meet record and Steen Aquatic Center record time of 1:41.99.
On Friday, Wilson won the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:01.78. Earlier in the day, she broke her own Kenyon record in the same event by finishing off her preliminary swim in 1:01.47. She also added to her weekend resume a third-place finish with the Ladies’ 400-yard medley relay team that posted a time of 3:46.80.
Finally, on Saturday, Wilson completed the breaststroke sweep by winning the 200 in a time of 2:16.27.
Wilson’s Kenyon record in the 100-yard breaststroke was an automatic qualifying time for the NCAA Championship meet. Her other three times cleared the NCAA ‘B’ standards and all four of her times were the fastest recorded in NCAA Division III swimming this season.
News courtesy of Kenyon Athletics.
Just want to point out that Conover beat a slew of Div 1 swimmers from Penn (and other colleges) at this meet. He currently has the 12th fastest time in the mile for all NCAA swimmers. Div 3 has produced a number of incredible sprinters (Jim Born and Zack Turk) and stroke specialists (Wilson from Emory) but it is really hard to imagine how a Div 3 swimmer could compete with Div 1 athletes in an event like the mile. That takes lots of talent and sheer mental toughness. People marvel at the Kenyon national title streak but tell me what program, at any level, will break the Kenyon streak of 19 straight 1650 champions?
Do you mean match/exceed the streak or break? Cuz Al Weik (Denison) sure did interrupt the Lords’ mile dominance. Just sayin’.