Did you expect anything less? At the halfway point of the 2012 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championship only three points separate Denison and Kenyon on the scoreboard. Thanks to a new meet record in the 400 medley relay, it's the Big Red who leads the Lords, 290-287.
Denison picked up its second national title of the championship and the first 400 medley relay title in school history thanks to a stunning performance from Robert Barry, Damon Rosenburg, Spencer Fronk and Mike Barczak. Barry started things off with a blazing 47.56 100 backstroke split which opened up a two second lead for DU. Rosenburg followed with the fastest breaststroke split in the race at 55.31 while Fronk countered with a 48.20 butterfly split that was bested only by Emory's Patrick Augustyn, who won the 100 fly championship earlier in the night. The anchor leg was handled by veteran sprint freestyler Mike Barczak who closed in 44.02 to become a national champion for the first time in his career. Denison's time of 3:15.09 broke the previous national record of 3:15.35 set by Kenyon last year.
Denison entered the final relay of the night trailing the Lords by just seven points. After Kenyon's fourth-place finish in the relay caused a 10-point swing, which allowed the Big Red to leap-frog their rival to the north.
Two other events were critical to Denison's strong second day as the Big Red landed three swimmers in the championship final of the 400 individual medley and the 200 freestyle. In the 400 IM, sophomore Al Weik continued his outstanding meet with a second-place finish with a time of 3:54.02. Following in fifth and sixth place, respectively was Jackson Humphrey (3:55.88) and Dan Thurston (3:56.37).
In the 200 free it was Sean Chabot, Carlos Maciel and Fronk who placed 4-5-7, respectively. For Chabot it marked his highest individual finish at nationals as he touched in 1:37.72. Maciel followed in 1:39.26 and Fronk logged a time of 1:39.57.
Two events prior to his brilliant backstroke split in the 400 medley relay, Barry narrowly missed a national championship in the 100 butterfly, placing second in 48.32. The winner was Augustyn of Emory in 48.22.
The first event of the night saw Denison's team of Barry, Fronk, Quinn Bartlett and Fronk place fourth in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:21.39.
On Friday the Big Red will compete in the 200 butterfly, the 100 backstroke, which has become must-see TV for Big Red swimming fans, the 100 breaststroke, the 1-meter dive and the 800 freestyle relay. DU has captured the 800 free relay championship in five out of the last six years and Barry is the defending national champion in the 100 back. Preliminaries will start at 10 a.m. with finals kicking off at 6 p.m. The NCAA offers live video of the preliminaries and the finals.
Photos by Dave Thurston
