SHENANDOAH, TX - Junior tri-captain Michael Winget of the Tufts men's swimming & diving team broke his own school record in the 100 backstroke during the 2015 NCAA Championships today at Conroe ISD Natatorium.
Racing in the consolation final, Winget swam a time of 49.47 seconds which was 14th overall at the meet. Competing at his second NCAA event, today's finish is the best of his career nationally. The time improved upon his NCAA qualifying mark of 49.51 from the NESCAC Championships earlier this season.
Winget earned a spot in Friday night's finals by timing 49.68 seconds in the preliminaries during the day. That time was 13th in the 100 back trials. In the final, he was sixth among seven New England swimmers who finished in the top 16.
By virtue of finishing 14th, Winget received honorable mention All-American honors. It's the second national award of his career, including last year when he was 16th in the NCAA 100 back (50.40).
On Thursday, Tufts sophomore Matt Rohrer finished eighth in one-meter diving at the NCAA meet. The effort earned him All-American honors (top eight).
With a 456.35 score in the preliminaries during the day, Rohrer was one of eight competitors to qualify for the championshp final out of 24 divers entered in the event. He was the only New England diver to make the final.
Returning to the well at night, his 452.25 score in the final was six-plus points behind seventh-place Justin Bublitz of Wisonsin-Lacrosse.
That was the third All-American honor of Rohrer's career, but the first outright. He was 10th in both the one- and three-meter diving events at NCAA's last year for honorable mention All-America accolades.
Winget was also in action for Tufts swimming in the 100 butterfly Thursday, taking 29th place. His preliminary time (49.61) was more than three seconds faster than his qualifying mark (52.76). The mark was just 0.12 off the Tufts school record in the event of 49.49 seconds held by teammate William Metcalfe from last season.
With the 14 points scored by Rohrer in one-meter diving and Winget in the backstroke, Tufts is tied for 31st at the NCAA meet after three days. Tomorrow is the final day of competition.
Rohrer takes part in three-meter diving and Winget races in the 200 backstroke on Saturday. The trials are at 10 am and the finals at are 6 pm on each day.
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