Two Cowboy swimmers, junior Adam Kalms and sophomore Ryan Nelson, competed in the NCAA Championships this past week in Austin, Texas, earning three team points for Wyoming to put the Cowboys in 44th place.
Kalms swam the 200-yard individual medley, the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle.
Nelson raced the 500-yard freestyle, 400-yard individual medley and the 200-yard butterfly.
Kalms best event came in the 200-yard freestyle, swimming the race in 1:34.63. That time was good enough for a 14th place finish which earned him his second consecutive Honorable Mention All-American in the 200-yard freestyle.
The last Wyoming swimmer to register multiple All-American honors was Olympian Scott Usher in 2003-2005.
“I wish he could have been a little faster and placed a little bit higher,” said Wyoming head coach Tom Johnson. “He gave great effort though.”
In the 100-yard freestyle, Kalms touched in with a time of 43.74 which was good enough for a 34th place finish. In the 200-yard individual medley he placed 38th in 1:46 flat.
Nelson’s best event came in the 200-yard butterfly. He finished with a time of 1:46.69 which earned him a 34th place finish.
“He swam a beautiful butterfly,” said Johnson. “He swam a real consistent race.”
Nelson also swam the 400-yard individual medley in a time of 3:48.21, placing him 31st. In addition, he competed in the 500-yard freestyle and finished in 4:24.84. The time earned Nelson a 47th place finish.
Last week’s competition closed out the swim season for the men. The women finished up their season last week at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis.
Earlier in the season at the WAC Championships, Kalms broke Wyoming’s 100-yard freestyle record with a time of 43.05. Both Kalms and Nelson broke the school’s 800-yard freestyle relay record at the WAC Championships in 6:24.21.
“Looking back on the year I was hoping we would have won the conference on the men’s side and finished in the the top two or three in the women’s,” said Johnson. “Overall everyone was pretty happy with the season. The men broke 15 records and the women broke three or four. We continue to get better each year.”
According to Johnson, the swimmers will continue to work in and out of the pool in preparations for summer workouts prior to the start of the 2014-2015 season.
“The swimmers that did not make it to the championships started preparations for next season right after spring break,” said Johnson. “They are in the weight room, doing some technical work and running when the weather is nice.”
