Swimming and Diving

Junior Jenny Van Etten (Ravena) and sophomore diver Shawn Merlin (Palmyra) each claimed All-American honors for the second time during the final day of competition at the 2009 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center in Minneapolis.

VanEtten finished seventh in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:20.29, shaving .17 seconds of her own school record set during the preliminary heats earlier in the day.  She qualified for the final by taking the eighth and final qualifying spot with a time of 2:20.46, which cut .82 seconds of her initial school record established at the SUNYAC Championship meet in February.

On Friday, Van Etten earned her first All-America certificate with an eighth-place showing in the finals of the 100-yard breaststroke, turning in a time of 1:05.66.  In the prelims, she shaved three-seconds off of her school-record in the event a time of 1:04.16, bettering the SUNYAC record of 1:06.11 set by conference champion Erica Ellis of New Paltz at last month’s meet.

Van Etten becomes the 30th Laker female swimmer since 1994-95 season to garner All-America accolades at the national meet, finishing the meet with three-school records, the first coming on the opening day in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:08.77 in the prelims, finishing 27th overall.  Her performances this week scored 23 team points en route to a 28th-place finish for the Lakers.

Merlin, finished fifth in the men’s three-meter springboard with a score of 479.80 points. He qualified for the finals as the seventh seed after tallying 463.40 points in the preliminary and semifinal rounds. Freshman Eric Messina (Latham) earned his second honorable mention All-America honor of the meet, finishing ninth with 445.35 points, narrowly edged out for the final spot for the final round of dives by 1.95 points.

The performances by Merlin and Messina marked the fifth straight year that Oswego divers have finished among the top ten at the national meet. The duo led the Lakers to a two-way tie for 21st place in the final men’s standings, tallying 44 points along with Williams College (MA).

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