Wabash opened the first day of the 2005 North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio with three All-Conference swims on the way to third place in the team standings. The Little Giants also set a school record in the final relay of the night.
The Little Giant tankers scored 260 points. Kenyon led the team scoring with 487 points, followed by Denison with 390. Wittenberg trailed Wabash in fourth place with 170 points, followed by Wooster (161), Allegheny (153), Oberlin (151), Hiram (131), and Ohio Wesleyan (80).
Wabash opened with an All-Conference performance from the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Colin Fahey (Indianapolis, IN/Bishop Chatard), Chad Damitz (Kokomo, IN/Kokomo), Tony Caldwell (Washington, IA/Washington), and Kyle Weaver (Portland, IN/Jay County). The quarter finished third overall with a time of 1:25.23, just missing an NCAA "B" cut by 4/100th of a second.
Fahey earned individual All-NCAC honors, taking third place in the 50-yard freestyle. The senior finished in 21.51, trimming .16 seconds off his morning preliminary time of 21.67.
One of the most exciting finishes of the night came in the 400-yard medley relay. The quartet of Caldwell, Fahey, Michael Hewitt (Greenwood, IN/Center Grove), and Damitz broke the Wabash record by one second with an NCAA "B" cut time of 3:27.92, finishing third for another All-Conference effort. Caldwell’s opening split of 52.05 in the backstroke was also faster than the "B" cut time, giving the sophomore a chance to swim in the nationals later this year.
The NCAC Championships continue through Saturday, February 12.
(Photo - Fahey and Hewitt celebrate after their record-setting performance in the 400 medley relay.)