March 24, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Three members of the Northwestern men's swimming team competed Saturday at the NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas. Freshman Tony Swanson (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) swam the 200 backstroke, sophomore Kellan O'Connor (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Preparatory) swam the 200 butterfly and freshman Aaron McCracken (Naperville, Ill./Central) swam the 200 breaststroke.
O'Connor broke his own school record for the fourth and fifth times this season in the 200 butterfly. His prelim time of 1:44.50 was a school record and qualified him to the finals in sixth place. He then bettered his time in the championship final with a fifth-place finish in 1:44.40, earning All-America honors.
Swanson earned honorable mention All-America in the 200 backstroke on Saturday, placing 16th in a time of 1:46.13. He also earned All-America honors Thursday in the 200 IM, finishing seventh in a school-record time of 1:46.56.
McCracken's 20th-place time of 1:59.16 in the 200 breaststroke broke the NU school record, previously set by Rob Rausch in 1997 with a time of 1:49.42.
Northwestern, which scored 27 points to finish 23rd among 34 teams who scored, completed the weekend with three All-America honors and three school records to bring the season to a close.