March 7th 2004

 

MEN FINISH 20th, ONLY 4 POINTS BEHIND ONTARIO SWIMMING POWERHOUSE MCMASTER

 

               Carleton University was well represented at this year’s CIS championships at the University of Toronto.  The Ravens who qualified were Paola Osorio, Krista Boegel, John Mills, and Keegan Harris.  Although this team was smaller than last year, the result was much better.  Last year, the team failed to score any points.  This year, the women struggled and met a similar fate, but the men posted a performance that is one of the best in recent history.

 

                For the women, neither Osorio nor Boegel swam to their full potential.  Osorio posted a personal best time in the 200m butterfly, but other than that was not happy with her swims.  As well, Boegel was just over half a second off her season best in the 50m breast.  Coaches John Waring and Lynn Marshall view this as a valuable learning experience, and will build upon this result for next year.

 

                The men, on the other hand, swam some incredible races.  Both Harris and Mills managed to advance in at least two (out of a possible four) events.  Breaststroker Keegan Harris advanced to consoles in the 50m breast and the 200m breast where he finished 10th in both with phenomenal personal bests, and a new Varsity Record in the 200m breast.  Also, he failed to advance in the 100m breast, only to watch 3 swimmers in the console go slower than he did in the preliminary round.  Also in the preliminary round, John Mills finished 9th in the 50m back and 50m fly, and 17th in the 50m and 100m free.  In each instance, 8th place (which would qualify him for finals) and 16th place (which would qualify him for consoles) swam less than 5 one hundredths of a second faster to steal the final spot.  Mills managed a second swim in the 100m free (finished 17th in prelims) because the swimmer in 16th place withdrew from the race.  In total, he scored 17 points, and Harris scored 14.

 

            Overall, these results were encouraging, and for the men, nothing short of extraordinary.  The future looks bright for next year as the team continues to build for next year.