March 28, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS -
Sophomore Joe Kinderwater of the University of North Carolina's men's swimming and diving team earned first-team All-America honors in the 1650-yard freestyle for the second straight year and eclipsed his own UNC record in the event on the final evening of the 2009 Division I NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships at Texas A&M University.
As a team, the Tar Heels finished in 26th place with 23 team points.
"I'm very proud of our All-Americas and all five guys" Tar Heel head coach Rich DeSelm said. "We're coming home with more points than last year, and three All-Americas, and I'm really proud of that. All the guys swam well, and we've learned a lot this week."
Kinderwater's time of 14:46.06 placed him eighth in the competitive field and bettered his previous UNC record of 14:46.93 set at the ACC Championships last month.
Kinderwater's teammate, redshirt sophomore Chip Peterson, earned honorable mention All-America honors in the 1650-yard freestyle with a 10th-place finish and time of 14:49.78, less than a second off of his career best time.
"Tonight Joe Kinderwater had a great race," DeSelm said. "He swam a lifetime best and placed eighth. Chip Peterson was just off his best time and also became an All-America. Joe and Chip both scoring in the mile again is a testament to the hard work they've put in all year long."
In the morning's preliminary session, sophomore Tommy Wyher swam to a 36th-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:47.09.
Sophomore
Tyler Harris swam the 200-yard breaststroke during preliminaries and finished 29th in 1:57.81.
Junior diver David Solarz finished 19th on the 10-meter board with a score of 307.95.
"David Solarz was within shot of scoring in his first time diving at NCAAs, and he dove well on all three boards," DeSelm said. "He's ready to come back next year and excel."
"I think our swimmers and divers got incredible experience and exposure to the fastest swim meet in the world," DeSelm said. "I know they're ready to come back and share what they learned with the entire team in Chapel Hill to help all of us do better next year."
