GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The Bates swimming and diving program is halfway through the NCAA Championships after Thursday's action at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
The men's 200-yard freestyle relay team of first-year
Nate Oppenheim (Easton, Conn.), junior
Max Cory (Dublin, Calif.), sophomore
John Weigel (Iowa City, Iowa) and junior
Marrich Somridhivej (South Windsor, Conn.) teamed up to swim a time of 1:21.12 in the morning prelims, good for 13th out of 27 schools. Unfortunately, a Bates swimmer left early in Thursday night's final, so the Bobcats did not score any points.
"It was not the night we wanted but they went for it, and had fun," head coach
Peter Casares said. "They are all still in good spirits - and ready to tackle another day. Sometimes it's the hardest moments that define how good you can be. And I'm excited to see what happens next with the group. That's a good sign!"
Elsewhere, sophomore
Tim Johnson (Brewster, Mass.) swam a personal-best time of 49.52 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly, good for a tie for 37th place at the meet and sixth on the Bates all-time top-10 list in the event. Weigel also finished 37th in his individual event -- the 200-yard freestyle -- with a time of 1:41.28.
The men's team is sitting in 13th place out of 43 scoring teams halfway through the NCAA Championships.
On the women's side, senior captain
Stephanie Tropper (Solon, Ohio) took 36th place out of 48 competitors with a time of 1:52.62 in the 200-yard freestyle.
The Bobcats are back in action for day three of NCAAs on Friday, with prelims at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m.
