This is a photo of a swimming race.
No, it’s not Marc racing his bud Barry “Sly” Holcomb, 1990 Hannah Award winner for swimming.
No, it’s not Barry Holcomb scrimmaging other Roo swimmers at AC’s Hannah Natatorium.
No, it’s not an AC swim meet against Trinity University at Hannah.
No, it’s not the prelims of the SCAC Conference Championships.
No, it’s not the finals of the SCAC Conference Championships.
No, it’s not even the prelims of the NCAA D3 Championships.
This is the FINALS of the 2024 NCAA D3 Championships. Eight swimmers are competing in the 200 Individual Medley (IM). The winner of this race determines a national champion.
In lane #5, Sophia Verkleeren. Verkleeren, a 13-time All-American from Williams College, was your 2023 national champion in the 200 IM. The #1 seed in 2024, she was favored to defend her title.
In lane #4, Austin College Kangaroo Sammi Thiele.
Thiele was one of 57 swimmers who qualified for the 200 IM at the 2024 NCAA D3 Championships. Her SCAC Championship time of 2:03.03 meant an elite #6 seed out of the 57. An NCAA prelim time of 2:02.89 secured a spot in the Finals and moved her up to seed #4. In Wednesday’s Final, she was even faster. Thiele clocked in at a blistering 2:01.86, a full second better than her prelim race hours earlier.
It wasn’t quite enough to catch Verkleeren, who repeated as 200 IM national champion. But Sammi’s effort just BARELY missed 3rd place and earned her a solid 4th place national finish on the NCAA podium. AC Swimming Coach Dan Snow was given the honor of presenting awards to all eight 200 IM finalists; Both Verkleeren and Thiele received their trophies from Coach Snow.
Thiele is not done yet at the NCAA Championships; she also qualified for the 100 and 200 Backstroke. In both events, Thiele is seeded #6. In both events, Verkleeren is the defending 2023 national champion and the 2024 #1 seed. It will be hard for Thiele to catch her. Swimming experts Claude Webb, John Cotton, & 2024 AC Hall of Honor inductee Lauren Elizabeth Hutton (see you this summer Lauren!) will tell you that the distance from #6 to national champion is daunting.
Having said that, Sammi Thiele seems to be getting faster by the day. She just missed cracking the Top 3 nationally on Wednesday, which means she might be #2 by Thursday and #1 by Friday evening’s 100 Backstroke Final. That 100 Backstroke Final will be streamed (see the comments) and will take place after 5:00pm CST. At that hour, I’ll be listening to Thiele’s effort on my phone while driving to Fredericksburg for a 7:00pm AC Happy Hour.
Jason Lezak owns my favorite moment in swimming. Lezak, the oldest male on the 2008 U.S. Olympic swim team, was behind France’s best swimmer when he began the anchor leg of the 4×100 relay. Somehow, Lezak caught him with an impossibly fast record swim, earning the gold for the USA (see the comments). Lezak attributes his comeback to a mysterious late “surge” of adrenaline he had never before experienced.
Maybe Sammi will come across that mysterious Lezak adrenaline right before I arrive in Fredericksburg. Then I’ll make me way over to hosts Jana Harrison, Carl Money, Montie Krumnow, Betsy Walling Furler, and Richard Walden and give them all the good news. Guess what everybody? AC has a national champion. Good luck on Friday & Saturday to AC All-American Sammi Thiele. No matter the results, thanks for making us proud to be Roos.
My fraternity brother Barry “Sly” Holcomb was a member of an Honorable Mention All-American relay team that included Court Smith, Dale Huggins, and 2024 AC Hall of Honor inductee Ned Munoz (see you this summer Ned!). Back in 1990, I was proud to share the stage with Barry at the AC Athletics Convocation. But Sammi Thiele’s inspiring story has changed all of that. Now I’m gonna hit the pool, work on my stroke, race Barry, find a “surge,” and chase him down. I’m coming for you Sly!
https://austin.prestosports.com/sports/wswimdive/2023-24/releases/20240320u4295e