Indianapolis – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s swimming and diving team is in eighth place with 99 points following day three of the 2014 NCAA Championships being held at the IUPUI Natatorium. Thanks to an eighth place finish by Alissa Tinklenberg (Sr., Willmar, Minn.) in the 100 backstroke and a ninth place performance by Jennifer Strom (Jr., Rochester, Minn.) in the 100 breaststroke, Gustavus earned 21 points on Friday to stay in the hunt for a top 10 finish.
Alissa Tinklenberg, who earned a spot in tonight’s finals by recording a time of 55.87 this morning, touched the wall in 55.91 on Friday night. Tinklenberg is the first Gustie to earn an individual All-America honor at the 2014 NCAA Championships. With her eighth place mark tonight, the senior Willmar, Minn. product now owns a school-record four All-America awards over her four-year career.
“It’s an honor to coach a swimmer like Alissa who is so driven and detail-orientated,” said Head Coach Jon Carlson about his senior standout. “She has a passion to swim fast and I’m proud of her All-America honor tonight. It’s going to be exciting to see what Alissa does tomorrow in the 200 back and 400-free relay as she closes out her collegiate career here in Indianapolis.”
Following Tinklenberg’s outing, Jennifer Strom stole the show in the consolation finals of the 100 breaststroke. After St. Thomas’s Emily Punyko broke her MIAC record in the prelims after recording a time of 1:03.26 this morning, Strom took the record back tonight with her best swim of the meet. Strom touched the wall in 1:03.11, breaking the school and MIAC record in the process. Her time of 1:03.57 registered in 2013 was the previous best mark in Gustavus history.
“I’ve never seen a Gustavus swimmer step onto the blocks and know she was going to beat everybody like Jenny Strom did tonight,” Carlson stated. “She went into the race with such great confidence and there was no swimmer stopping her. She has that unique ability to pull off a big swim at exactly the time it’s needed. I couldn’t be more proud of her and what she has been able to accomplish. Frankly, setting a conference record with tonight’s performance doesn’t surprise me one bit. She will go down as one of the greatest swimmers in the history of our program.”
The final day of the NCAA Championships will begin tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. with preliminary races in the 100 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, and 400-freestyle relay. For complete results, team scores, and Saturday’s heat sheets, please follow the link below.