Our Great Swim Team

I’m still on the Brandeis Athletics press release e-mail list from my time as the Hoot’s sports editor, and I still read the e-mails and keep up with how the teams are doing.  Today’s release about the NCAA D-III Swimming and Diving Championships was particularly impressive:

Brandeis University rookie swimmer Marc Eder (Princeton, N.J./Lawenceville School)  had a pair of lifetime-best performances, including a school record, in two optional events at the NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving championships at the University of Minnesota… On the first day of competition, Eder improved his time by nearly five seconds in the 200-yard individual medley… [In the 100-yard breast stroke] Eder improved 16 places… missing All-America honors… by 1.04 seconds.

Wow!  A rookie swimmer breaks a school record and exceeds expectations at the NCAA Championships!  If anyone knows Mark, be sure to congratulate him on this incredible performance.

However, it becomes a real shame when you realize that Eder has only one year left to swim at Brandeis before funding issues and the lack of a pool will probably force the swim team to disband.  And he’s not the only great freshman talent that we won’t get to see mature fully.  Angela Chui broke two Brandeis records in her very first meet and came very close to making the NCAA Championships herself.  Now, both Marc and Angela will have to decide whether to stay at Brandeis and not swim or to transfer to another school.  I’m not sure what I’d advise for them.  On the one hand, I passionately love Brandeis and believe it’s the best place in the world to get the particular education and experience it offers.  On the other hand, Marc and Angela both came to school expecting to swim, and it would be difficult to see their tremendous potential go unfulfilled.

I have a close friend on the swim team, and I’ve seen first-hand the hard work and dedication the swimmers put into their sport and the disappointment they will feel if they can continue competing.  Our budget may not allow for a swim team beyond next year, but these athletes deserve the chance to keep doing us proud in the water.  Lindsey Pool should have been renovated long before it’s problems reached the critical point, and though I understand that reality that’s facing the administrators and appreciate the difficult position that they’re in, I still hope we can find away to keep Brandeis Swimming and Diving alive into the future.

To read more about the the team and to find out how you can help, visit www.supportbusdt.com.

Sports Information Director Adam Levine’s full press release is below the fold.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Brandeis University rookie swimmer Marc Eder (Princeton, N.J./Lawenceville School)  had a pair of lifetime-best performances, including a school record, in two optional events at the NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving championships at the University of Minnesota.

On the first day of competition, Eder improved his time by nearly five seconds in the 200-yard individual medley. He entered the meet with a seed time of 2:03.10, but improved to 1:58.46, the third-best time in school history, earning 47th place.

After a day off, Eder had his first breaststroke race, the 100, his best stroke. Ranked 42nd in the nation entering the meet, Eder improved his career-best time by more than a second, from 58.79 seconds to 57.41 seconds, a school record. Eder erased the previous school record held by Matt Christian ’05. Eder improved 16 places to 26th in the nation missing All-America honors by 10 spots and 1.04 seconds.

In his final event, Eder, who entered the NCAA championships ranked 20th in the 200-yard breaststroke, placed 27th with a time of 2:05.64. He was 1.8 seconds shy of qualifying for the consolation finals and earning All-America honors.