University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
NCAA Men's Championship Finals
Tar Heel Men's Swimmers Earn Highest NCAA Finish Since 1996
March 28, 2010 | Swimming & Diving
March 28, 2010
COLUMBUS, OHIO - The North Carolina men's swimming and diving team earned its highest finish in NCAA competition since 1996 Sunday night as the Tar Heels finished 15th in the 2010 NCAA Division I Championships at Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. All nine Tar Heels who competed in the meet earned either first-team or honorable mention All-America honors.
Carolina finished with 76.5 points to claim 15th in the field. The last time UNC finished as high as 15th was 1996 when they were also in the same spot. Three Tar Heels -- juniors Tommy Wyher, Joe Kinderwater and Tyler Harris - claimed first-team All-America honors while the other six swimmers in the meet for UNC were named honorable mention All-Americas. That group included redshirt junior Chip Peterson, freshman Tom Luchsinger and sophomores Steve Cebertowicz, Evan Reed, Wil Singley and Brad Hamilton.
"It's a culmination of a terrific year," said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. "We started with some challenges but fought through them. I'm very proud of our coaching and our swimmers and divers. A 15th place finish, the best UNC's had since 1996, and one of our best finishes in the modern era, is a result of a lot of hard work and some terrific athletes. In the past four years we've been 27th, 29th, 26th and now 15th at NCAAs so the momentum were building is terrific."
On Sunday, UNC had three All-America performances. Junior Joe Kinderwater took sixth place and redshirt junior Chip Peterson 13th place in the 1650-yard freestyle in times of 14:51.88 and 14:57.43, respectively. Carolina's 400-yard freestyle relay captured 11th place with a time of 2:54.86. The relay included Evan Reed (43.96), Tommy Wyher (42.86), Steve Cebertowicz (43.73) and Brad Hamilton (44.31).
"Having all nine men become NCAA All-Americas is a testament to the growth of our program," added DeSelm. "Having three relays score at the meet is another example of our growth as a program and we plan on getting better."
Kinderwater improved two seconds on his seed time to take sixth place. He has now been fifth, eighth and sixth in the 1650 in the last three NCAA meets. "Joe has been in the outside lane before and he did a great job keeping his eye on the field. He was in a heat where some of the competitors are known for finishing fast but he did a great job of holding on to his place."
Earlier in the day, freshman Tom Luchsinger just missed earning a spot in the consolation final of the 200-yard butterfly when he touched in 17th place in the prelims. His time of 1:44.90 was just seven one-hundredths of a second off his career best. In the 100-yard freestyle, Steve Cebertowicz finished 27th in 43.66 and Evan Reed recorded a career best time of 43.75 in finishing 28th. Tyler Harris was 28th in the 200-yard breaststroke at 1:57.78 and Wil Singley was 29th in the 1650-yard freestyle in 15:31.79.
Carolina's 400-yard freestyle relay was 12th in the prelims before moving up to 11th in the evening. The Tar Heels' time was faster in the morning at 2:54.66 with Cebertowicz leading off in 43.69 followed by Wyher at 42.87, Reed at 43.28 and Hamilton at 44.82.
"I think the past two weeks has everybody motivated and we look forward to being even better next year with a good spring and summer of training ahead going into next fall," said DeSelm. "My thanks to everyone in the program for their support of UNC swimming and diving and we're already looking forward to next season."
Players Mentioned
