AUSTIN, Texas—The men’s swimming and diving team at The University of Texas at Austin captured its third consecutive NCAA title in dramatic fashion this Saturday, March 30, coming back to take the lead in the second-to-last event of the evening, then holding on in the final event for the overall team victory at the 2002 NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga.
The Longhorns scored a total of 512 points in the victory, finishing just ahead of second-place Stanford with 501 points. The 11-point edge is the closest margin of victory since the advent of the 16-place scoring system in 1985.
The title stands as the ninth team championship in school history, tying Southern Cal for third in all-time men’s swimming and diving championships. Rounding out the top five was Auburn in third (365.6), Florida in fourth (277) and Southern Cal in fifth (272).
The 2002 National Championship came down to the 400 freestyle relay, the final event of the meet. The team of junior Chris Kemp (Southlake, Texas), seniors Tommy Hannan (Baltimore, Md.), Ryan Ciccarelli (Plainsboro, N.J.) and sophomore Ian Crocker (Portland, Maine) finished the race in third-place, which was good enough to hold off Stanford and clinch the victory.
The lone individual champion for the Longhorns on the final day was sophomore Brendan Hansen (Havertown, Pa.). Hansen swam to a first-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, setting a new American and NCAA record time of 1:52.88. The effort broke his own previous record time of 1:53.11 set at last year’s NCAAs and gave the sophomore his fourth career individual NCAA crown.
Following the meet, Troy Dumais was named NCAA Diver of the Year for the third straight time, and Texas diving coach Matt Scoggin earned Diving Coach of the Year honors, his fifth such award. Dumais won individual titles on both the one-meter and three-meter springboards during the meet to close his collegiate career with seven total championships. With Dumais’ three-meter win on Friday, he became the first diver in NCAA history to win four straight years in an event, only the 10th NCAA performer to ever accomplish the feat.
Complete details of the 2002 NCAA Championships are available on the Texas Longhorns Web site.
For further information, contact Christine Plonsky at (512) 471-4787.
