March 29, 2002
ATHENS, Ga. - It seems every time Kellan O'Connor (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Prep) gets in the pool to swim the 100 butterfly he sets a new school record.
That's exactly what happened Friday at the 2002 NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga. O'Connor shattered his previous record of 48.08, set only three weeks ago, in the preliminaries of the 100 fly with a time of 47.13. O'Connor went on to place 13th in the consolation final (47.66) and earn second-team All-America honors.
The junior was the only member of the NU men's swimming team to reach the finals Friday night. Mark Hamming (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) finished 37th in the preliminaries of the 100 fly with a time of 48.69, and Tony Swanson (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) took 18th in the preliminaries of the 100 back (48.10). Only the top 16 finishers in the preliminaries move on to the finals.
NU remains 16th in the team standings with 19 points heading into Saturday's competition.