BATON ROUGE — The LSU Swimming and Diving Men’s team wrapped up the first day of competition at the NCAA Championship hosted at the Weyerhaeuser King Co. Aquatic Center in Seattle, Wash.
Junior Craig Hamilton posted his lifetime best in the 500 freestyle. The Edinburgh, Scotland native posted a mark of 4:19.12, which reset the program’s lowest mark and placed him in 22nd. Last season, Hamilton finished in 35th in the same event.
“Craig had a really incredible swim,” Swimming Coach Dave Geyer said. “We came in yesterday, shook things out a little bit and did some pace work. Both Steve Mellor and I looked at him and thought that he looked really smooth and high in the water, which is a good sign heading into a race. He went out in control and put together some good times. He came back really strong on that last 100, and probably posted one of the fastest 100 times coming home in the field.”
“Craig is a natural distance swimmer and he qualified for the mile. Seeing him develop in that 500 is exciting and that is an event we are looking at him developing more in his senior year.”
The three-time NCAA Qualifier will compete in his best event, the 1650 free, on Saturday. Hamilton owns both the 1000 free (9:05.55) and 1650 free (14:58.11) program records. The 1000 free is derived from the 1000 yard split in the mile.
At last year’s NCAA meet, Hamilton earned his first NCAA Honorable Mention in a 15th place finish in the 1650 free (15.02.33).
Sophomore diver Daniel Helm completed his one-meter run in 22nd place with a six-line total of 295.00.
“It was a good first NCAA experience for Daniel,” Diving Coach Doug Shaffer said. “He missed one dive that would have given him a chance for his first All-American place.”
The Beaverton, Ore. native will compete on the three-meter springboard tomorrow, and boasts a career high of 380.70 on the three-meter, which is fourth best in the program’s records.
“Daniel is a good all-around diver and has a tendency to get a little bit better as he goes up,” Shaffer said. “Any one of his events can be an excellent for him. He is excited to have two more opportunities to perform at the NCAA Championships.”
Live stats are available through the following link: http://www.ncaa.com/content/real-time-men-stats
For more information on the LSU Swimming and Diving program, please visit LSUSports.net, follow @LSUSwimDive on Twitter or ‘like’ LSU Swimming and Diving on Facebook.