March 22, 2008

200-Yard Breaststroke Results

OXFORD, Ohio - Franklin & Marshall sophomore Tom Grabiak picked up his first career All-America certificate, placing 11th in the 200-Yard Breaststroke at the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships. Grabiak is the Diplomats first men's swimmer to earn the title since Derek Nowak and JJ Czaplicki achieved the honor at the 2006 championships.

Grabiak earned his tag in record fashion. The sophomore swam to a 2:05.11 in the 200-yard breaststroke preliminaries to set the new school mark and qualify for the 16th and final spot consolation finals of the event.

Grabiak's preliminary time beat his NCAA seed time and school record of 2:05.94, which was the gold standard at the Centennial Championships. He reset that record once again in the finals, leapfrogging from 16th to 11th place by posting a 2:04.41. That time also marks the best time ever logged by a Centennial Conference swimmer.

Grabiak reset two school records over the course of the NCAA Championship meet. He broke his own school record in the 200-Yard Individual Medley on Thursday evening. He placed 38th in that event. Last night, Grabiak took 19th in the 100-Yard Breaststroke.

The NCAA gold medal in the 200 went to Staten Islan freshman, Pavel Buyanov. He clocked a 2:00.01 to edge out Kenyon senior, Alexander Stoyel at 2:00.70. Nelson Westby of St. Olaf placed third in 2:01.09.