BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – What an unusual past 24 hours it has been for Carson-Newman swim as they saw day one event wrap up early Thursday afternoon before coming back to compete in more final events Thursday evening. Due to the weather postponement on Wednesday, Thursday night saw day two events of the 2021 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships take place as "timed finals" and the top eight for each event being declared All-Americans.
Sophomore Raphael Lima (Sao Paulo, Brazil) further submitted himself into C-N history as he tied the best individual male finish in a Nationals event by a Carson-Newman Eagle (third). Lima came in third place with a time of 1:36.11, giving him the title of All-American. Lima also stakes claim to the top three times in the event in all C-N history, as he was only three seconds away from tying the newly set Division II record time.
A couple events prior to Lima gaining a top-three finish, junior Meredith Ginn (Ocala, Fla.) set the new school record in the women's 400-yard IM as she finished the event in fifth place with a new record time of 4:16.48. This also gives Ginn her first individual All-American honor of 2021 Nationals. She was joined in the event's top eight by teammate senior CJ Jensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) who gathered her third All-American honor on the day as she finished sixth in the 400 IM with a time of 4:17.43, the second fastest event time for C-N.
"Another great session with a bunch of great swims, starting with Manon getting 13th as she gets honorable All-American. The women's 400 IM was unbelievable with Meredith and CJ breaking lifetime bests," head coach Jordan Taylor said. "Raphael was just outside the school record in the 200 free as well as having the women's 400-yard medley gain another All-American honor."
The final event of the night was the 400-yard medley relay. C-N gained another top-eight finish from Ginn, Jensen, sophomore Manon Compagner (Balkburg, The Netherlands), and sophomore Kailee Morgan (Greenville, S.C.). The quartet finished in a time of 3:44.30, placing them in eighth overall and gaining the second All-American distinction for themselves of the day.
Compagner was the first Eagle to compete in an event Thursday night as she was in the third and final heat of the women's 100-yard butterfly. She came in at 55.25 for the event, placing her as the 13th overall finisher and sixth fastest for the event in C-N program history. The 13th place finish gains Compagner the title of honorable mention All-American in the event.
Peden was alongside Ginn and Jensen in the women's 400-yard IM for the first time at Nationals where she came in at 4:24.71. This time allows Peden to finish top-20 in the event and gain the title of honorable mention All-American. She will be back in action tomorrow as part of the women's 500-yard freestyle before finishing up with her final individual event on Saturday as she competes in the women's 1650-yard freestyle.
"Another amazing night and I'm really proud of them," Taylor said. "Again, coming back from crazy last 24 hours and these last two days is all about momentum and finishing strong."
Carson-Newman are back in action tomorrow morning to begin day three of events at the 2021 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships in Birmingham, Alabama from the Birmingham Crossplex. Live video is shown on ncaa.com
Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman swimming via cneagles.com and all social media accounts.
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