Whoever decided the order of events really wanted to mess with swimmers. We’re on Day three and we have before us the 200’s of all the strokes, the 100 free and the 1650 freestyle. The men also were diving on one-meter while the women were diving on three-meter. All of these events are tough on their own, but to add insult to injury, they are placed on day three of the meet where all the events on the previous two days start catching up to you. This is known as the ‘heart’ session because without your heart, you’re sunk.
The first event was the 200 backstroke and it was once again Alissa Tinklenberg cruising to the top seed. Tinklenberg dropped down to a 2:03.31, the second fastest time in school history. Look for her to challenge the MIAC record set by former Gustie Carley Mosher which was set in 2010. The men were paced by Zac Solis. Solis finished with a time of 1:53.17, a six second drop and he only trails the leader by .14 seconds. The men also have four spots in the consolation heat.
In the 100 free, Katie Olson and Sarah Hund made the top heat. Olson has the top time with a 52.70. Senior Zach Nachtsheim was the only male to make the top-eight, going a lifetime best of 46.86. Nachtsheim is only a half-second out of second. In the 200 breaststroke, the women also have the top seed. Jenny Strom went a lifetime best of 2:23.84. The men have two in the top-eight. Billy Schultze is the top seed with a time of 2:05.59, which is also a lifetime best.
In the 200 fly, Stephanie Korba and McKenna Jones made the top-eight. Jones almost dropped ten seconds from her seed time. The men have one top-eight swimmer; Sam Olson-Anstett went a lifetime best of 1:59.11. After prelims in diving, the women are sitting 10th and 11th with a strong chance to move up to 9th. The men are paced by Sam Hanson who sits fourth after prelims. Hanson is only four points out of 3rd and a chance to gain all-conference honors.
Gunnar Teigen, a senior on the Gustavus swimming and diving team, is an intern for the Gustavus Adolphus Sports Information Department. Teigen will be blogging from the 2012 MIAC Championships to give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the conference championships through the eyes of one of the student-athletes competiting. Teigen will be posting a new installment his feature blog, “Deck Pass To The 2012 MIAC Swim & Dive Championships” following each day of competition.