Columbia
ECAC Championships
Men's Swimming Fares Well at ECACs
3/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
NEW YORK – A contingent of 11 Columbia men's swimmers traveled to Pittsburgh, Pa. last weekend, to take part in the ECAC championships. Despite having a small team in comparison, the Lions managed to finish eighth out of 21 teams with 215 points.
The meet saw several Columbia swimmers qualify for A and B finals, including first-year John Wright, who made an appearance in three different individual championships finals.
The first event of the weekend was the 200 free relay, that saw the squad of Richard Falk-Wallace, Nathan Mormann, Philippe Putzeys and Wright take seventh place in the A final, with a time of 1:24.94. The 400 free relay squad also finished seventh in the A final, as Falk-Wallace, Mormann, Robert Frawley and Wright touched the wall in 3:08.34. The top relay for Columbia on the weekend was that of the 400 medley relay, as the team of Mormann, Adam Bulkley, Karl Mayer and Wright came in fifth overall, in 3:25.30.
Several members of the Lion squad also had strong individual swims. First-year Wright was one of the highlights, as he was in the A final for the 50, 100 and 200 free. In the 50, he came in sixth overall, in 21.09, while he finished fifth in the 100 free in 46.62. In the 200 free, Wright had the fastest time in the preliminaries, touching the wall at 1:40.57. And in the finals, he improved on that time, swimming 1:39.82, good for second place, just tenths of a second out of first.
Sophomore Shane Tutass qualified for the championship heat of the 500 free, where he finished eighth with a time of 4:45.47. He, along with teammate Mayer, also came in 14th and 15th in the 200 fly. Mayer also did well in the 100 fly, where he qualified for B final, taking sixth in his heat, good for 14th overall in 50.88.
Senior Adam Bulkley was another major point scorer for the Lions, as he qualified for the B final of the 200 IM. He came in sixth in his heat, good for 14th overall, in a time of 1:55.04. In the 100 breast, Bulkley came in 12th overall, in 58.35. And in the A finals of the 200 breaststroke, the senior finished sixth overall, with a time of 2:06.24. Kent Yamada was in the B final of the 200 breast, and came in with a time of 2:10.47, good for 14th overall.
Junior Nate Mormann also had good swims for the Columbia team, as he qualified for the championship final in the 100 back. He came in seventh overall in 51.91. First-year Mayer was in the B final of that event, and placed 15th overall in 53.36. Mormann also did well in the 200 back, as he finished 13th overall in 1:54.93.
Complete ECAC meet results are available here.
Up next for the Lions is the 2010 Ivy League Championships, which will take place in Princeton, N.J., Thursday, March 4 to Saturday, March 5.
Players Mentioned
