July 8, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -
Junior Tommy Wyher took down the longest-standing University of North Carolina men's swimming record Wednesday night at the Conoco Phillips USA Swimming National Championships and World Championships Trials at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis, Ind. with a 13th-place finish in the 100-meter backstroke while incoming freshman Tom Luchsinger also set a University mark in the 200-meter butterfly with an 11th-place finish.
Wyher, of New Port Richey, Fla., set a new personal best and established the University's long course school record with a time of 55.44 seconds in the event. That time eclipsed the existing school record of 56.94 that was set by Eric Ericson at the 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials in the same IUPUI facility. Ericson's record stood for 25 years, five years longer than any other Tar Heel men's long course record currently on the books. Prior to Wednesday, Wyher's career best had been 56.79 seconds. Wyher qualified 14th in the event in 55.85 seconds in the preliminaries while fellow Tar Heel Jeff James, a rising senior from Chapel Hill, N.C., placed 37th with a clocking of 57.95 seconds.
Incoming freshman Tom Luchsinger of Mt. Sinai, N.Y. finished 11th Wednesday in the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 1:59.93 after going 2:00.25 in the preliminaries of the event (the 11th fastest qualifying time). His prelim time was exactly seven-tenths of a second better than his previous career best of 2:00.75 and he bettered that time by another 32 one-hundredths of a second in his evening swim. Luchsinger's 1:59.93 clocking set a second University long course record Wednesday night. His time eclipsed the previous mark of 2:00.15 set by Yann deFabrique at the 1995 U.S. Swimming National Championships.
Also in preliminary action Wednesday, 2001 Tar Heel alumna Erika Acuff Erndl took 17th place in the women's 200-meter freestyle. Erndl swam a time of 2:00.55 which was just eight one-hundredths of a second off the University long course record time of 2:00.47 she set at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials.
