Dec. 4, 2010

Contact: Dan Carr

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Junior Mark de Swardt and sophomore Berry Thompson qualified to swim in the finals of two events on Saturday (Dec. 4), concluding Cleveland State's participation in the USA Swimming National Championship on a positive note.

Sophomore Joanna Olsson (200 fly) and freshman Brian Ferro (200 breast) also competed on Saturday, the final day of the national competition.

de Swardt placed 13th overall in the mile, finishing in 15:23.90, nearly two seconds faster than his previous season-best, league-leading 15:25.47 time. Thompson placed 26th at 44.96.

"It was really exciting," assistant coach Andrew Hancock said. "They were swimming against some of the fastest guys in the country, and they held their own. It was fun to watch."

Ferro also set a new season-best Horizon League time, finishing the 200 breast in 2:02.34. The previous best mark of the year in that event was 2:05.90, set by fellow Viking Deni Gasparin. The time also qualifies as the fourth-best in CSU history. The freshman finished 34th overall in the event.

Olsson placed 59th in the 200 fly, coming in at 2:06.58.

"This was just a great experience for our swimmers," Hancock said. "We learned a lot, and we're now looking forward to getting back to training and back to our studies and finishing this semester working hard at both."

The Vikings will be back in the pool on Jan. 8 when Cleveland State will participate in the Holiday Invitational.