MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Alabama men’s swimming and diving team posted its fifth-consecutive top-15 finish at the NCAA Championships Saturday night, taking 13th with 95 points.
“A 13th place finish isn’t where we wanted to be at the end of the day, but the guys fought hard for that against some really tough competition,” UA head coach Dennis Pursley said. “They kept working at it even when things weren’t going our way and that made a difference in terms of our finish.”
Alabama closed out the meet tied for seventh with Auburn in the 400 freestyle relay. Sophomore Zane Waddell, junior Robert Howard, senior Christopher Reid and junior Laurent Bams combined to post a 2:49.01 in finals. The quartet earned a spot in the A final after posting a school-record 2:48.76 in prelims, bettering the mark set last season.
“I was pleased that we were able to get that relay into the championship final with a school record in prelims and score some big points in the last event on the schedule tonight,” Pursley said.
Earlier in the night Howard took second in the B final of the men’s 100 freestyle and 10th overall with a career-best time of 41.81. The Alexander City, Ala., native is just the second UA swimmer to dip under 42 seconds in the 100 freestyle.
In his last individual event for the Crimson Tide, Reid took 13th in the 200 backstroke with a 1:40.33.
